Crimson Sagittarius
by Eirenei
Summary: Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius.  The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?
1. The Meeting

_CRIMSON SAGITTARIUS_

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_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own Bleach, nor do I own Harry Potter. _Capisce?_

_**Summary:** »Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius.«_ The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?

_**Shout Out: **Crimson Sagittarius_ is continuing. The updates may be sporadic, but I'll try and write it out. Because I have life outside this (What life?_ - snorts_ - School), I'm sorry for waiting in advance.

_**Warnings:**_ Mentions of abuse, AU – world as far as it could be, and very, very confusing little story.

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**Chapter one - The Meeting**

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Nobody could say that Ryuuken Ishida was a compassionate man. Well, Ryuuken was a …. Good father? Not quite. Good son? Er…. Again, he wasn't very son – ish to his father and Uryuu's grandfather, Soken Ishida.

It irked Ryuuken something fierce, that his own son called him by name, and not his title, as it would have been more appropriate. Still, he could stomach it. He could stomach Kurosaki's ridiculous behavior, and Uryuu's peevies with him weren't worth anything, in comparison, with the goofy ex – captain dramatics.

He was… the last Quincy? Definitely… he didn't count Uryuu to be worth his salt, while it came to be a Hollow - slayer, what with his mellow ideals about working with Shinigami.

Of course, that had changed with Soken being slayed by a Hollow and the witnessing Shinigami doing nothing to stop the foul wretches. Since then, Uryuu was even more close mouthed, and he was definitely colder to any people that tried to get him out of his self – imposed shell. Ryuuken should be happy; his son finally saw that Shinigamis were worthless idiots that used their powers only for their gain.

Ryuuken was perfectionist. While he saw the benefits in having _Reiryoku _at his disposal, he was disappointed it didn't benefit him directly otherwise than saving already dead people. Because of that viewpoint, he had become the doctor – it was better to save live people than the dead ones. The Shinigamis took the care of the dead ones anyway, so his conscience wasn't troubled much…

But killing of Soken was the last straw – Ryuuken handed over the mantle of hospital primary to the Kurosaki idiot Isshin, and packing their belongings, he left Japan for England.

To say it bluntly, Ryuuken Ishida was a cold – blooded individual; calculating, scarily intelligent, a prodigy … but he sure as hell didn't approve of abuse.

Icy blue eyes narrowed as he watched the walrus – like male berate the tiny child, roaring at him to make himself useful and get to the work, while the man's son…. A small beach whale – like child – Ryuuken was wondering how it was the blonde nuisance didn't keel over yet, what with it's obesity and unhealthy food the spoiled brat was right now stuffing down his throat.

Ryuuken watched with horrified fascination, how the fat duo thudded away into the superstore, no doubt for the walrus – like man to spoil his darling son something horrible… again.

The icy eyes turned to the small waif – like child that was struggling to hold up the bag, filled to the brim with groceries and other stuff. Thin lips tightened at the sight of the child's clothes – no doubt, they were the castoffs from the blonde kid whale. It didn't help that the small one was shivering in the afternoon cold – the winter was coming quickly, and in England, the autumn evenings were notoriously cold and damp.

He wasn't compassionate man. He didn't do mercy. But somehow, the sight of that particular child, shivering in front of the superstore, while waiting for the two obese idiots, kicked him into the moving towards the pitiful creature.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the kid gruffly. Meanwhile, he was eyeing the waif critically – short, messy black hair, skin pale, almost unhealthily so, the frame even thinner than before he had glimpsed him, and trembling arms, clutching the overfilled bag to the small body desperately trying not to let it slip on the ground.

The child looked up. And Ryuuken was gifted with the sight of the greenest eyes he had ever seen.

His sharp inhale made the child wince. "I – I'm sorry Sir, I am waiting for my relatives…" the child spoke softly, as if afraid he would be punished if his voice would be too loud. "I will move right away, Sir…" Ryuuken moved "No!" his sharp voice made child flinch even more. Something clenched in his gut, and it was not a pleasant feeling. "I – I mean you no harm, child," he continued gruffly. He raked his right hand through his hair, for once frustrated how to make the child see he had mean no harm to him. Then he blinked.

Those eyes… were unfocused.

Oh... Of course…

"Kid… is your sight blurry?" He asked the little one, his voice soft – or, as soft as he could make it.

His eyes widened as the child nodded shyly. Ryuuken growled mentally at those shit sacks of fat that didn't have even so much of decency as to buy the child glasses to help him with his eyesight!

"Mister?" A small voice dragged him out of his stewing about the injustice of the world. "Are you alright, Mister?" He looked back at the kid, who was looking at him concernedly, albeit a little bit unfocused. Ryuuken had to suppress his violent temper from erupting… badly.

"Hn," He grunted. "Don't worry about me."

"But…" The boy cringed. "You seem mad, Sir. Did I do something wrong?" the timid voice was like a bucket of freezing cold water to the white-haired man.

"No, you didn't child. Tell me, where are your relatives?" He managed to force out calmly…. Or at least as calmly as he could.

Green eyes lowered, the child hung his head. "I'm waiting for them. Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley, I mean."

Ryuuken stilled. "You don't have parents?"

He queried, his voice shaky. At a miserable nod of the green – eyes waif, he knew, that something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

**_/To Be Continued/_**


	2. The New Family Member

_CRIMSON SAGITTARIUS _

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_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own _**Bleach**_ or **_Harry_** _**Potter.**_ I own only this story.

_**Summary :**_ _»Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius.«_ The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?

_**Shout out:**_ Here's the second part of the _**Crimson Sagittarius.**_ I am working on the next one, so if this one feels as filler, please be patient.

_**Warnings:**_ Mentions of severe abuse, and some spoilers for Bleach arc. And this is AU – Alternate Universe, so expect the changes.

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**Chapter two - A new family member**

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Ishida Uryuu was a stoic, cold child. Before the Hollows killed his grandfather in front of his very eyes, he was happy, shy, determined, and all above, loving kid… but the death of his only known father figure – he refused to call Ryuuken father, as the bastard definitely didn't deserve it, and a little because of his rebellious streak, which grew only larger after that Hollow disaster.

He was intelligent and mature way beyond his peers. He may be only 8 year old, but that didn't mean he couldn't understand the way the world worked. Ryuuken had imparted bitter lessons of life into his lessons fairly early, and as result, Uryuu was mentally far older than his physical age.

Uryuu had thought he knew his old man… but this day, all of his preconceived notions about Ishida Ryuuken were thrown out of the window.

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The day had begun normally enough – he had clothed himself, then it was breakfast, and he went into school, where he had to suffer through the obnoxious peers blabbering and the teachers' praises. Then, he headed to the archery club, where – as usual – he practiced in the secluded place, as to not reveal his abilities. He may be better than the club members by far, but that didn't mean he had any wish to participate in any tournaments or such things. He went to the archery club solely because he needed to sharpen his skills and improve his shooting speed.

Five hours later, he headed home, making a detour to buy some rice and fresh fish along with vegetables, as to make a nice dinner. Even if Ryuuken came later, he could always heat up the remains, Uryuu cared not.

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Uryuu was reading a book, when his father called. "Uryuu. I need your help." Uryuu blinked, surprised. "Ryuuken?" He inquired, his thoughts screeching to a halt when he saw a bundle in his father's arms, hidden from his sight by being snuggled into his father's cloak. Uryuu blinked. "What the - ?"

His father – no, Ryuuken - looked distressed; that was as much as Uryuu could read from the elder male's face. He closed his book and put it on the club desk. Then, he received a lapful of the bundled… _something._ His eyes widened as he saw the flushed face of a child – and his alarm escalated only more, as he felt the child's forehead. "He has a fever!" Uryuu exclaimed, his eyes alarmed. Ryuuken paused, and then nodded to him sharply. "Disrobe him, and I'll fetch hot water and tea."

Uryuu gulped and nodded sharply. As a doctor's son, he knew his fair share about common illnesses, high temperature being one among them; but what baffled him the most, was why Ryuuken had carried the kid home, and not to the hospital. The boy was small, and his face was flushed with heat. Deftly, Uryuu began to disrobe him, blushing faintly at the act, before his eyes widened in horror.

"Ryuuken!"

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Ryuuken was heating the water for tea and washing for the kid, when he heard Uryuu's urgent call. Quickly, he poured the hot water into the low basin, and the rest to the cup, where he added the herbs and a spoonful of the honey. Grabbing the towel, he lifted up the plate and hurried to the living room.

And his blood froze over.

"Oh, _shit_ - " Uryuu startled at hearing the uncharacteristic curse from Ryuuken's lips. "It's worse than I thought. Fetch me a camera, would you?"

Uryuu bit his lip and nodded, hurrying off to fetch the requested item. Something was very wrong here, and he didn't like it!

He and Ryuuken cleaned the kid carefully, being mindful of the bruises and the shallow wounds on the little boy's body. Uryuu even washed his hair, wondering in dismay who could have hurt the little one so badly.

Meanwhile, Ryuuken called the police. What Uryuu could hear from the father's call, was that he came over the boy, and that he was severly abused and malnourished. He didn't like that fact, not at all. His father's voice was freezing cold, which didn't bode well for anyone who opposed him. The younger Ishida shuddered. Ryuuken was scary even if he wasn't angry, but right now, he was furious. And that meant, the last Quincy just reached the 'beyond terrifying' anger stage.

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Uryuu looked at his father as he quietly came back. "What was all that about?" He asked quietly. Ryuuken sighed. "I was returning from work, when I saw two fatass idiots leaving the kid out in the cold, while they went to the superstore…" He proceeded to tell the whole story, from when he saw a child, and the subsequent row with the negligent family over their treatment of their nephew.

Uryuu's eyes grow round with shock. _"Nephew?"_ he breathed out. "They were… a _family_, and they treated him…." He motioned to the small kid that was currently using him as a pillow. Ryuuken nodded solemnly.

Uryuu growled. "That's unforgivable! Please tell me they will be punished…" He trailed off as he saw the little ball of clothes unfurl slightly. Ryuuken grinned a slight, mirthless grin. "Don't worry, Uryuu, they will get their due." And Uryuu, for once in his life, believed his father.

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Since that day, Uryuu shortened his practice to come home earlier, just to see the small one. Uryuu didn't know why, but the kid fascinated him. The kid was also steadily getting better; he was still shy around both of them, but he was also getting used to the strange dynamics in the Ishida family. Ryuuken nearly had a heart attack when he had came in the kitchen one morning, and saw the frail child expertly making the traditional English breakfast. Suffice to say, they quickly disabused the kid of the notion he was their slave. Or tried to, at least; Harry was still too timid and still flinched when there were sudden movements or loud sounds.

And then, the day of the trial came. Of course, the Dursleys blustered and blundered through it all, claiming they were respectable, normal citizens, who treated their nephew as a part of their family. Shame the pictures and the witnesses told otherwise. It was also a tense moment when the odd man came, trying to convince the judge in the favor of Dursleys, but luckily, the judge was a fair man, who disliked the child abuse fiercely, and thus ordered Dursleys to be unfit guardians for the little Harry, and proclaimed him to be moved into orphanage.

Ryuuken didn't agree with the verdict, and promptly pleaded the judge for the guardianship of the little boy, much to the disgruntlement of the rich blonde haired couple that attended the hearing. When Harry had been asked what he wished, he quickly made a decision, and thus, he was re-named Ishida Hayato, and became the newest part of the Ishida family.

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**_/To Be Continued/_**


	3. The Unusual Happenings

_CRIMSON SAGITTARIUS _

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_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own _**Bleach**_ or **_Harry_** _**Potter.**_ I own only this story.

_**Summary :**_ _»Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius.«_ The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?

_**Shout out: **_Third part of_** Crimson Sagittarius.**_ As for Harry's age, the first and second chapter, Harry was six years old. This chapter, he's eleven years old. Yes, I cheated and got straight to the business. As for other characters... you will see _/naughty grin/._

_**Warnings:**_ Mentions of cuddle time, Ryuuken being jealous and the suppoised prank letter from Pigwarts school.

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_**Dictionary:**_

_Aniki:_ Brother

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**Chapter three – The Unusual Happenings.**

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Hayato Ishida, shortly nicknamed Yato, was confused. He didn't think it was normal that the owls brought him letters, was it? And they were so old-fashioned – written by hand in a green ink, with a strange seal and the envelope, along with the contents, was made from papyrus…. Or something like that. "What, are they some thousand ages backwater, now?" he grumbled out. The owl hooted indignantly. Yato eyed the avian predator disinterestedly. "Hoot it up, why wouldn't ya. Besides, I am still unsure whether this us a joke or not. No offense to you, of course. " The owl was pacified enough to accept juicy meatball from Yato's meal.

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Yato was now eleven years old, and attended the Rydell's School for Gifted, the same as his Aniki, Uryuu. Both of them were hailed as prodigies, and there was even talk of them having been considered for the elevation program, because of their exceptional achievements. Yato was still a little on the short side, reaching only to Uryuu's chest, much to his consternation. His body was seen as a little on the feminine side, and Yato detested to be reminded of that fact; it was surefire way to piss him off and then suffer the consequences. Yato was no damsel in distress; in fact, he was country's champion in the aikido and tae-bo; and his archery was superb. Uryuu and he still squabbled who was better; and this was frustrating, as once Uryuu bested Yato, but then again, when Yato had his good day, Uryuu sulked, much to Ryuuken's amusement.

Yato's hair was black, with some of the natural reddish highlights woven in, when the light hit his mass of hair at the right angle. He usually wore it loose, with only a little tail to hold the mass of hair from his face, and still, some bangs were stubborn enough to shade his face, especially the little lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Yato didn't wear the eyesores that were his glasses anymore. Instead of that, his eyes were repaired, the courtesy of Urahara, on Isshin's request. There were already two eyeglasses-wearing people in the family, and Yato really did not want to be the third one! That would be creepy beyond reason.

Right now, he was clothed in school's uniform, dark gray pants, white shirt with the silver-striped violet tie, and the dark violet blazer over it, along with casual black shoes. It suited him, and he was frequently chosen as one of the best good – looking male students in the school, much to his consternation, and Uryuu's amusement. The only one consolation was, Uryuu was also always voted for one of the best looking male students. Suffice to say, Valentine's days were murder. They both dreaded the horrible holiday; luckily, Yato had an unexplainable ability to make them, not exactly invisible, but somewhat….inconspicuous -looking in those days. That didn't mean their lockers were not full of chocolates, perfumed pink letters and white and red plushies.

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Ryuuken was amused at his sons' plight, especially with Uryuu's. However, Yato was another thing entirely. In fact, it made Ryuuken jealous!

Yato was shaping to be intelligent, crafty and resourceful young man, much to Ryuuken's pleasure and satisfaction. He enjoyed the evenings when he discussed his work with Yato, while they played go or chess, and Uryuu was sewing one of his little projects again. Yato didn't know much about medicine – not as much as the usual student, anyway, but he had sharp mind, and the solutions along with deductions he came up with, never ceased to amaze Ryuuken. Of course, Yato still made mistakes, but those were result of his inexperience and the lack of knowledge in the field; however, Yato's imagination and resourcefulness helped Ryuuken to shape up into a better doctor, or so his colleagues commented on his work.

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But back to Yato. The boy somehow stole in his heart, a feat few people managed to accomplish. Since the day he had came, small, scared and timid, he progressed and became someone that Ryuuken could have respect for. And of course, Ryuuken certainly didn't mind that Yato called him father! Uryuu still refused, the stubborn little brat….and it didn't help that Uryuu was insanely protective of his little sibling…

Uryuu adored his little otouto, and was fiercely protective of him since the day one. Oftentimes Yato, when he was younger, crept into his room to sleep with him, claiming that Uryuu was keeping the bad dreams away. That made Uryuu just as proud, as it made him confused. Yato didn't speak about his bad dreams, not even to Ryuuken. On this subject, the boy was stubborn as an ox, and it irked Uryuu something terrible. After Yato began to learn meditation and archery, the bad dreams vanished; appearing only when Yato was extremely stressed or pissed tremendously, which wasn't often.

However, with Yato's nightmares ceasing, Yato also began sleeping in his room, leaving Uryuu feeling strangely empty. He became used to his little brother snuggling up to him, adding to the warmth, and somehow, through the night, they became entangled together, invariably waking up – or better, Uryuu waking up in the mornings with Yato laying atop of him, messy – haired head snuggled on his chest. Ryuuken even had the photos to prove it, much to Uryuu's mortification. Yato, when he saw the incriminating photos, only shrugged and said that Uryuu made a good pillow. That got Uryuu blushing, and Ryuuken laughing like he hadn't since… ever.

Yato could be said that he was subconsciously obsessed with making the two Ishidas for his personal pillows, Uryuu noted wryly. Not that they minded. Heck, Ryuuken claimed Yato was their personal kitty-cat, much to Yato pouting and Uryuu looking at the blushing green-eyed boy in great interest. Which was true – since Yato came with them, the relationship between the father and son was reluctantly becoming better, all the result of the green – eyed, messy-haired waif that made them less thick – headed in their viewpoints towards each other. Ryuuken had mellowed out somewhat, but only in regards of Yato, and sometimes Uryuu. That still didn't change the fact Ryuuken rather enjoyed being Yato's personal pillow-slash-mattress, to hell with his cold façade. There was also the fact; Yato only did that with them. Isshin had once tried to entice the boy, however, despite of being doggone tired, Yato still refused, and rather curled into himself on the couch, until the Ishidas came to pick him up. Isshin was pouting for _days,_ much to Ryuuken's amusement.

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These days, it was rare for Yato to come to either Ishida for pillow-time, as they fondly called it. However, that didn't stop them to go to Yato; and it was Yato's favorite guessing game, which Ishida would he wake up on come morning. He adored being held in secure embrace, all that warmth about him, and listening to their hearts.

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He stood up from his sitting position against the sakura tree in the middle of the small garden. The Rydell School also owned the garden, and some said it was one of the most beautiful in the England. Yato was inclined to agree. After he had exhausted his portion of meatballs, the owl flew up into the tree, leaving him to contemplate the strangeness of the weird letter. Ah well, it was end of the school day already; he was only waiting for Uryuu to come from his sewing club. Yato's club meeting was postponed, due to the illness of the music teacher.

He saw his Aniki heading to him, decked in his impeccable uniform, as always. Blueish-black hair was lightly swaying in the breeze. Yato smiled at the sight. He spotted a small smile on Uryuu's face too. Uryuu's dark blue eyes softened a small fraction, as always when he had seen his otouto. "Hey," Yato greeted, smiling at him softly. Uryuu nodded. "Hey. Did you wait for me long? "He watched Yato's shook his head negatively.

Uryuu quirked an eyebrow. "You always say that, Yato," He gently teased his sibling. Yato snorted. "Believe me, if you were late, you'd know that." He snarked back, green eyes twinkling mock – threateningly. Uryuu huffed, slightly amused. That was their little game. "Well, shall we go?" Yato nodded, and they were off.

Uryuu looked at Yato. "Something is troubling you, "he stated softly. Well, softly for his brother, others would think he was cold to him. Yato sighed. "I can't hide from you, huh?" They were walking home, after buying the groceries. Cobalt blue eyes narrowed minutely. "You were… _unfocused , _during our practice," Uryuu stated, frowning. "That isn't like you, at all." Absently, he wondered what to prepare for the dinner. Yato shrugged. "That's true," he stated blandly. He saw no point in delaying the inevitable. "Do you know anything about owls carrying mail?"

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Uryuu gaped unceremoniously. "You are kidding." He breathed out. "I wish I were," Yato stated sourly. "When I was waiting for you, an owl flew to me, and delivered me a letter. But the strange thing was, it was addressed to my old name, and with the location, where I was I that moment. "Yato saw Uryuu tense. Yato's past was a sensitive topic to all of them; sure, Yato had managed to overcome the years of trauma and abuse on the hands of his relatives, but the memories stayed. And whoever was dragging up Yato's past… they had better have good reason for that, otherwise Uryuu and Ryuuken would make hell rain upon them.

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Ryuuken was in a fairly bad mood today. Firstly, some idiot came to get his toe fixed, which, by the way, he should have had fixed in the first hospital he went by…. The man confessed that this hospital was his, what, third? Then, his idiotic students made a mess with their case, and of course, the primary just HAD to be absent, relocating the entire workload he was usually – _not _– doing, on Ryuuken's shoulders.

Therefore, it would be safe to surmise that Ryuuken was in a bad mood. Sometimes, it just sucked to be a dependable one. Inwardly, Ryuuken swore, he would get his staff a stern talking to, as they were behaving like little kids on vacation, just because he had more responsibilities, as he had been instated as a primary for the short time.

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Ryuuken stormed into the apartment, intent on getting a cup of home-brewed green tea and ginger cookies.

Ginger cookies were his weakness… especially, when Yato baked them. He shrugged his coat off, hanging it in the wardrobe, before toeing off his shoes. Sniffling around, he faintly smiled as he detected the pleasant scent of rice in sweet-sour sauce with steamed veggies and spicy chicken along the way. He frowned as he didn't hear Yato and Uryuu talking, or even Yato humming around, as he was wont to do, while he was cooking.

Something was wrong.

And Ryuuken didn't like it.

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"Tadaima. "He murmured as he entered the dining room/kitchen. He saw Uryuu sewing his latest sewing project. Usually, the two brothers were talking, or Yato was at least humming some song under his breath

However, today wasn't the case.

Ryuuken blinked. "What happened?" he asked, his voice leveled. He saw Uryuu wince, and Yato shudder. "Told you he would notice," Uryuu murmured to the green-eyed boy. Yato stuck his tongue out. "And that's why I don't take bets with you," he retorted. "Dinner will be soon."

Ryuuken narrowed his eyes.

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The dinner was delicious, as always. However, just as Yato made a move to bite another meatball, there was _swoosh_, and what do you know, the same black owl who had delivered Yato's letter, was currently staring at him with…. Were those_ puppy eyes?_

Uryuu blinked. "Yato… Is that owl trying to use puppy eyes?" He asked incredilously. Yato sighed, before giving the owl his piece of meat. "Yup." He turned to Ryuuken. "Tousan, do you know anything about owls delivering letters…. On my old name, no less?"

"_What?"_ Ryuuken emitted a strangled choke/yelp, as he sputtered. The alarm bells immediately began ringing in his head. This was no good. "Tell me everything," He demanded his voice harsh.

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"Well, I was waiting for Uryuu, under the sakura tree," Yato began, "when the owl came – By the way, are you girl or guy?" he returned to the owl. The owl blinked, before puffing up importantly. "Ah. So you are a guy, then." The 'guy' owl hooted reassuringly at him, and moved up to the boy's arm carefully, only to nuzzle at his head. The two Ishidas watched the entire process incredulously.

"Anyway, he delivered the letter, and I fed him some meatballs," Yato continued. "However, the thing is, I don't know any 'School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' that could be called Hogwarts. Father," he turned to Ryuuken. "Could it be that's a prank?" Ryuuken pondered the matter silently. "Can I see the letter?" Uryuu inquired silently.

"Of course," Yato nodded, fishing it out his pocket. "I think it's a prank, what with the parchment and writing. But it's baffling me, who could have done it." Ryuuken nodded, thoughtful. "That bothers me, too, "he rumbled out. "Owls are usually nocturnal creatures, and it's …. Unexpected, to say the least, to see one deliver the letter. As far as I know, owls are not trained to be letter carriers, like pigeons. "He was interrupted with the indignant hoot.

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Ryuuken eyed the he-owl drolly. "However, just because of that fact, I think that isn't a prank…" he trailed off, frowning. "Some… people here have very strange Reiryoku, and this letter would be a logical explanation as for why." Uryuu's eyes widened. "But I don't sense that Yato would have the same… well, _feel _to his Reiryoku," he protested. "Therefore it must be a mistake, somewhere."

Yato was listening to the conversation, flabbergasted. "Wait, wait, what do you mean, that there were people with the same Reiryoku as me?" He asked, baffled. He shifted uncomfortably on his chair as Ryuuken's eyes zeroed on him. "I mean, I could have sensed the difference…" He trailed off sheepishly.

Ryuuken quirked his eyebrow. "You couldn't," He was blunt to the point, making Yato scowl. "You could sense Quincy's Reiryoku, and probably Shinigami, however those… Wizards…are more subtle. What I meant to say, was that they aren't exactly physics – sensitive, to say the least; not like Kurosaki's brats. You are Quincy. They, on the other hand, are not, they are… _Wizards_." The last word was spoken out hesitantly, almost disgustedly. Yato blinked.

"Okay…." He muttered out. "So we can extrapolate, that there _could_ be, hypothetically speaking, a hidden world of…..magic. Still, that doesn't explain how I have the … magic, as they call it."

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Uryuu was silent. His brother was unnerved, he could feel it, and it was making him uneasy in turn. Yato was very intuitive child, and Uryuu learned to listen to his sixth sense. But right now, there was some non-existent, hidden world, that threatened to take his brother away from him… and he didn't like it. "So… What do we do about it?" He uttered the dreaded question.

After much deliberating, they decided to ignore the letter. Whoever wanted _Harry,_ they obviously didn't have any good intentions for Yato. Besides, if the letter was a prank, it was a waste of their time to answer it.

But that still didn't thwart the feeling of dread in their guts, that the wheels of destiny were about to turn… whether they wanted them to or not.

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_**/To Be Continued/**_


	4. The First Move

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own _**Bleach**_ or _**Harry**_ _**Potter.**_ I own only this story.

_**Summary :**_ _"Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius."_ The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?

_**Shout out:**_ Well, well, well, lookie what the cat brought out. _/dryly/_ A new chapter. The story is rollin' again - it seems that our beloved archers had decided to harass my plotdragons into harassing me into writing out the story… again. As for other stories, _**Among The Hawks and Doves**_ is written partially, but I have to cobble out the whole thing in electronic format, since I have only snippets now. And who wouldn't forget those beloved annoyances that are called plotbunni – _AHEM_! – plotdragons. You can look forward to continuing of _**Scrapbook Jewels**_ soon… how soon, I can't tell you. Enjoy the story.

_**Warnings:**_ Mentions of cuddle time, and the little idyll is crashed by some very unexpected and disheartening news. What will Yato and his little family do next?

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_**Dictionary:**_

_Otanjoubi omedetou_ - Happy birthday (Please correct me if I am wrong in the wording)

_Tousan -_ father

_chan -_ An affectionate suffix that us usually used with girl names. As Yato is a boy, the –_chan _suffix is used in a teasing context..

_Kun –_ An affectionate suffix for males. If anyone knows an useful online phrasebook that's accurare or is willing to help me with Japanese bits, I would be happy to accept help. Just send me a PM or write an email

* * *

**Chapter three**

"_Otanjoubi omedetou,_ Yato," Ryuuken muttered to the green-eyed child fondly. It was Yato's birthday today – his eleventh one in fact, and the little family was determined to celebrate it the best they could. True, they were far from Japan – Ryuuken thanked gods for that, as he didn't think he could bear all the fuss over his Yato from the idiots that called themselves Shinigami – even if he did get along with Aizen, but that was because the man was the most normal of the bunch, even if Ryuuken had a hunch there was more to the benevolently smiling man that he saw.

Green eyes blinked, before he was graced with radiant smile. "Thank you, _Tousan_." The child said softly, before all manners were thrown out of the window and Ryuuken was tackled by enthusiastic birthday – boy.

Letting out a surprised laugh, Ryuuken nevertheless relished the warm weight of the slender body on his lap. Yato was very affectionate child – but only with those he trusted, and these were precious few. Around the others, he was kind, but politely distant, as if he hadn't known what to do with them. Personally, Ryuuken blamed Yato's impeccable manners on Kuchiki clan leader. But that didn't mean he wouldn't tease Yato that he was a little Kuchiki in disguise, on what would Yato grimace and respond he was an Ishida, thank you very much.

Yato's answer, cute as it may be, never failed to please Ryuuken. It also didn't help that Yato looked like a small, rumpled kitten as he screwed his small button nose cutely in disgust. Yato liked Byakuya – in fact, he was one of the rare people that could get away with calling Byakuya Byaku-nii, but everyone else was forbidden to utter the ridiculous nickname under the pain of death. The last one who dared was a foolish redhead, named Abarai, but he was better known as a Pineapple-kun, much to the Abarai's woes. In fact, when Yato first saw Abarai, he mentioned that the redhead's hair was a pineapple, and when Abarai freaked out, the eight-year old calmly asked him, that he could be called Pineapple-kun or Strawberry-chan.

Well, talk about being between the rock and a hard place…

In the end, Abarai sulkily chose Pineapple-kun, not that it helped to his sense of masculinity much. It was also reported, that Abarai reached his Bankai because he was called by that ghastly nickname one too many time, and the redhead's temper erupted. And it really didn't help that the little pink-haired monster heartily approved of Yato's naming of the unfortunate "pineapple".

But enough of that. "Hey, don't hog him too much," Uryuu's grumble made Ryuuken blink, before the white-haired male smirked. "Got dibs on him first, Uryuu," He teased his son, who scowled lightly, but there was a light of humor in the dark eyes.

"_Mou!_ Why do you two have to scuffle over me?" Yato grumbled, as he wiggled slightly in his seat, to look at his brother.

Uryuu smiled at his brother gently. "Because it's fun," he retorted, playfully messing Yato's hair. "_Otanjoubi omedetou,_ Ya-chan." Yato blushed at that particular nickname heavily.

It was an unfortunate reminder from those times…when Yato announced, that when he would grow up, he would marry his Uryuu-nii. When the adults recovered from the shock, Urahara asked him what Ryuuken would do then, because he would be all alone and stuff, and Yato, in all his childish innocence, answered that he would marry Ryuuken too.

That bowled the adults over – Ryuuken was mortified, and the two idiots – Kurosaki and Urahara - were in hysterics over the absurdity of the solution. And it didn't help that Ichigo asked, if that meant he would have to marry Kenpachi, which made his father go into seizures, and Urahara exploding into new round of hyenish laughter. Ryuuken just thought it was such a poetic justice, and he couldn't wait for Ichigo to grow up…it would serve the bearded Kurosaki-baka right, if Ichigo _did_ marry Kenpachi.

But in all clamor nobody noticed the thin golden strands connecting Yato to the two Ishidas. And even if they did…it wouldn't matter. Not right now.

* * *

"Don't call me that!" Yato pouted at his amused brother. Uryuu only smirked. "Up we go, sleepy head," He poked Yato's nose gently. "We have a surprise for you."

Green eyes lit up in happy delight. "Really?" Yato asked enthusiastically. "Where is it?

At the question, both Ishidas smirked. "You will find out when you get up... and dressed." Ryuuken murmured into delicate ear gently. "And no, we won't tell you…" He teased Yato, a devilish smile on his lips.

Yato grumbled, but he decided to get up in the end. "You two are evil," He remarked, making the duo chuckle at his antics.

The present was twofold – Ryuuken gifted him with a Quincy Cross, and Uryuu got him a new jacket, styled like ordinary Quincy one, but with reverse colors – black instead of white, and green cross instead of blue. Yato relished his presents happily, making the two males smile at his enthusiasm.

They had a picnic on the small island, but sadly, they were caught in the storm.

Luckily, they found a small hut that wasn't very accommodating, but it was at least dry, if not anything else.

"That rain…" Uryuu grumbled. "Now my clothes are all wet!" Ryuuken had to chuckle at Uryuu's peeved tone. Yato also smiled at his brother's pouting face.

That was the second big change in Ishida household. Even if both older Ishidas were grumpy pants, to say it mildly, when they were alone with Yato, they behaved like decent human beings. Even if they were distant, even frosty to others, they just couldn't be like that with Yato. Yato of course understood – somewhat – the duality of their behavior – and really, he was the only one who could accurately read the two human ice cubes, like Kurosaki Isshin called them.

"Well, then we'll have to change out of them, won't we?" Ryuuken murmured, still amused with his son.

"Un!" Yato nodded happily. Then, he froze. "But… what would we wear?" He asked rather helplessly, green eyes big.

Ryuuken and Uryuu eyed looked at each other, dumbfounded. The question was legitimate, because they didn't have spare clothes and the only thing that was marginally dry was the basket contents and the picnic blanket.

Even if the blanket was fairly big, it wasn't so big that it could contain all three of them altogether without some squeezing.

Uryuu huffed, as his eyebrow twitched. "It can't be helped. " He grumbled out. "We'll have to share." Yato nodded, blushing a little. Even if he was familiar with their bodies, he rarely snuggled with either of the two Ishidas with skin on skin contact.

Luckily they could light a fire, so the small hut was less dreary. Yato was snuggled between Ryuuken and Uryuu, listening to their murmurs about proper forming of a spirit bow half – heartedly.

Lately, Ryuuken had taken greater interest in the two boys' training, and he had taken a time off for instructing the duo. Uryuu was peeved at the beginning, because Ryuuken was merciless with his critique of his stance, his firing, his… everything, really. But seeing Ryuuken use his own bow, and one-handed at that, quickly shut all protests he had thought to voice about Ryuuken's involvement in their training. Yato was, of course awed and more than enthusiastic to follow Ryuuken's training, much to Uryuu's grumbling protests.

Ryuuken's training methods were… brutal. Even Yato, as enthusiastic as he had been at the beginning, felt the strain on his mind and body. But the results were showing, making the green – eyed boy train all the more dedicatedly.

In fact, that day was the first one he had taken some time off of the training, much to Ryuuken's relief. Even if he didn't admit it aloud, Ryuuken was concerned for his youngest child. Yato tried so hard… and with that letter, he was under additional pressure. Oftentimes, Ryuuken sneaked into Yato's room to comfort him after the nightmares, and if he wasn't able to do it, there was still Uryuu.

He sighed as he caressed the wild locks that smelled of vanilla and ginger cookies. Yato was his precious person, along with Uryuu, and he loathed the fact that something was out there - something that could take Yato away from him.

Yato's Reiryoku was different from the Quincy – it was like some kind of a hybrid of Quincy and that… _magic._ Ryuuken didn't deceive himself. His little Yato-chan was a … wizard, and sooner than latter –

He swallowed as he closed his eyes.

"Ryuuken?" Uryuu asked his father hesitantly. Never did he see Ryuuken so… defeated looking. Not in the court battle when they were trying to save Yato from those menaces of society that had the galls to call themselves normal. Ryuuken was always a pillar of strength - a little stoic man, a whole lot cold person - but defeated?

_Never_.

Dark blue eyes opened to look into similar colored ones. And in that short moment, both father and son communicated wordlessly, both concerned over their precious person, and both determined to keep him safe at all costs.

It was almost midnight, and Uryuu was snoozing away, along with Yato, but Ryuuken was still awake, albeit a little bit drowsy.

He was staring into the dancing flames, listening to the crackling of fire and distant howling of the wind.

He was at the verge of being asleep – in fact, he was practically snoozing already, when –

_**BANG, BANG BANG!**_

* * *

Yelping out loudly, Uryuu mouthed out an expletive which, in normal circumstances, Ryuuken would have berated him for - but as the eldest Ishida was equally as frazzled, and pissed enough to incinerate whoever was the dumb idiot who dared to interrupt their rest –

"Open tha' door!" A man's voice boomed from the outside, making Ryuuken manifest his spirit bow in a moment.

"You do know it's rude to wake up a person at the midnight?" Yato called out crankily, growling under his breath something about barbaric idiots that didn't have an ounce of self-preservation.

"Ha – Harry? Is tha' yeh?" The man asked rather hopefully, making both Ryuuken and Uryuu frown, and Yato outright scowl.

"No, I'm not!" Yato bit out, his fingers twitching as he resisted the urge to form the bow. He still wasn't as good as Ryuuken, but he had improved rather drastically, what with the additional training sessions he had been putting himself through.

A pause. "Ye are Harry Potter." The man insisted. "Otherwise th' owl wouldn't have led meh there."

Green eyes widened. _An owl?_ Then that – letter hoax wasn't a hoax after all?

"Go away!" Uryu called out. Yato could feel his brother preparing to summon his bow, and with Ryuuken already having his on ready –

_CRASH!_

The intruder stumbled into the small hut, and Ryuuken barely restrained himself from firing the arrow.

The man was a … giant.

He was tall – taller than anyone living he had ever seen in his long life. The man was clad in long brown coat, and with his wiry – looking brown hair and beard that were busy as they came, he gave an impression of someone who wasn't overly intelligent.

Beetle black eyes widened as the man looked at the triad that was snuggled in a picnic blanket – and he blushed terribly when he found out that the three were naked underneath.

But the surprise quickly made a room for anger. "What are ye doing to youn' Harry!" The giant bellowed, brandishing a ... Pink umbrella?"

Uryuu blinked. If the situation hadn't been so serious… The entire thing would be absurd.

"_Quiet down!"_ Ryuuken's sharp voice stopped the giant's tirade, making him blink.

"Who are you and why are you searching for this… Harry Potter?" Ryuuken forced himself to ask the question calmly, even if he would prefer his bow and arrows speak for him.

The giant winced. "Uh…. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, th' Hogwarts' Groundskeeper and Keeper o' the keys," The man – giant – puffed himself up proudly, making Yato amused at the absurd pride the man felt at his position. "I'm here on Dumbledore's orders, to fetch the letter to the lad, and get him to th' Diagon Alley for th' things fer school."

Dark blue eyes narrowed as Ryuuken still didn't let go off of the bow. "So pray tell us, just why do you think we would let you take Yato with you?" He asked silkily, making the giant splutter.

"The boy's name was in the Book o' Hogwarts since the lad had been born!" The giant boomed back, beetle eyes glittering with anger. " And no name Muggle like yerself will stop him from attending his parents' school!"

All curiosity about that school his parents supposedly attended Yato felt evaporating in the wake of anger at the man's - Rubeus - insulting of Ryuuken.

"I won't attend it." He bit out, speaking for the first time, making the giant looking with horrified eyes. "But 'Arry!" The giant spluttered. "Yer parents would wish you to – "

"It's a moot point what they would wished me to do, as they are dead," Yato mercilessly interrupted him. "Besides, why in the hell would I want to attend the school whose members look down upon my family?"

The giant was bewildered as he began fidgeting with the pink umbrella nervously. "Harry, yer family is respected light one – "Yato's green eyes narrowed at the giant's bluster.

"_Is?"_ He muttered lightly. "So they are still alive?"

* * *

Rubeus looked like a deer caught in a headlight. "Well, um – "Uryuu sucked in a sharp breath. If Yato's family was still alive, then what –

Ryuuken was equally stumped with the revelation. The giant cringed. "Harry, you gotta understand – " He began awkwardly -

"Understand what?" Ryuuken bit out harshly. "That his… family abandoned him on the mercy of his relatives and they didn't have the decency to look after him?" Ryuuken was nearly snarling at that point. To find out that his little one was abandoned like unwanted dog, it made his blood boil with anger. His fingers clenched around the bow until they were white with pressure.

The giant gulped. "They had to give ye up. Connor - Connor was the Boy – Who – Lived, an' they had to protect him – " The man was very near tears as he babbled out the sordid details.

" – an' now ye are old enough to go to th' school, but because ye didn't send a letter, they sent me to save ye – "

All three Ishidas were furious. Ryuuken and Uryuu were furious on Yato's behalf – they simply couldn't comprehend that someone would be so callous as to leave a member of their family just because some threat in the shape of wannabe Dark Lord and his insipid followers.

And for Yato having to suffer through physical and emotional violence his… _loving _relatives heaped upon - it was the last straw.

Yato was… hurt. His biological family didn't want him – didn't care for him, hadn't even as much as to check up on him at least occasionally. A bitter ball of resentment and hurt lodged itself deep in his throat.

Belatedly, he felt Uryuu grab one of his hands and squeeze it so hard Yato thought Uryuu was trying to crack the bones. But any pain was welcome – any pain that distracted him from that crippling feeling of abandonment and betrayal.

"My decision still stands." Yato's voice was thin and strangely vulnerable. "I don't – no, I _WON'T_ attend that Hogwarts school I was supposedly enrolled at birth. I have a good life with my family – with my brother and my father, so you can tell the Potters to go fuck themselves with their magic sticks." Yato's voice became stronger and more determined. "They didn't want me, well - I don't need them." He felt Ryuuken's hand on his hair, the heavy warmth giving him quiet support.

The giant was quiet. Stricken beetle black eyes looked at the solemn youth. "Harry, magic is a wonderful thing," Rubeus tried to convince the boy again. "Ye can do so much things with it - like so – "He waved an umbrella at the discarded picnic basket which gained a pig's snout, legs, ears and tail. It even squealed like one – but more in a protest than anything else.

The three Ishidas' incredulous stares at the ex-picnic basket made the giant blush. "Well – " he coughed. " Tha' s Transfiguration an' well, I tried to make a pig – " He scratched his head awkwardly.

"I am disturbed for life," Uryuu mumbled under his breath, barely enough for Ryuuken and Yato to hear.

"Agreed," Ryuuken muttered back as he eyed the … _pig basket? Basket pig?_ - warily. Yato had to cough to smother a snort of mirth that threatened to bubble from his throat."

"An' there is Defense against Dark Arts an' Care o' Magical Creatures – " The giant was becoming desperate.

"I. _Don't._ Care, " Yato growled out, his green eyes flashing with irritation. "I refuse to attend Hogwarts. That means _NO._ Thank you for the invitation and effort for trying to … _save me_," Yato wiggled his fingers in the air mockingly as to illustrate the pointlessness of the gesture , making Uryuu smirk and Ryuuken's lips twitched minutely with amusement – "But my decision is final. So shoo, off you go."

The half – giant sagged with disappointment. "'Arry, Dumbledoor will be disappointed." He grumbled reluctantly, as he plopped himself on the ground, disregarding Ryuuken's scathing glare.

"He will just have to deal with it," Yato shrugged nonchalantly. The half – giant nodded grudgingly, seemingly at the loss for words. The pig – basket oinked quietly, drawing the looks toward it.

Beetle black eyes widened at the delight at the contents of the basket. Yato could literally see the man's brain cogs switching from persuasion to food. "Food?" The half- giant -Rubeus - asked hopefully, dark eyes wide.

* * *

Yato snorted. "By all means," He agreed dryly. The pig – basket squealed with alarm, but the giant effortlessly seized it, before halting. "Oh, yah. It may not be the… nicest around, but I think the taste should be still good," The giant mumbled, as he pulled from one of his humogonous pockets a little rumpled, live… Owl? Which screeched indignantly at being mentioned as a possible meal, As it flapped around. The man winced. "Oopsie… Not yeh, lil' one," He put it down gently, if awkwardly, but the owl hopped as far away from the carnivorous beast of an owl – eater.

Once again, the man shuffled after something in the pocket, before he switched to the other one. Finally, he drew out a box, which was indeed somewhat…thin, as if someone had sit on it for a time.

The – Rubeus - pushed the box to the green eyed boy which was still tucked between the two older males. " 'Ere ye go. It's not much, but…" The half - giant smiled bashfully at the green – eyed boy who looked at the box cautiously. "'Appy birthday, Harry."

Carefully, Yato peeled the lid off. In there, sat a chocolate cake with mint green cream, and loopy letters that spelled _Happy Birthday, Harry._

* * *

_**/To Be Continued./**  
_


	5. The First Move  2nd part

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own _**Bleach**_ or _**Harry**_ _**Potter.**_ I own only this little story.

_**Summary :**_ _"Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius."_ The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?

_**Shout out: **_So there. It seems I am getting back on the track. I apologize for being so late, but me and my beta, **_Moon Howling Banshee,_** are literally at the different ends of the world – meaning, I have to wait for the draft to be edited before I submit it. So there will be delays between the posting of the stories. Also, I am working on the others, so you can anticipate something for approaching holidays. Have to be good, or Santa won't bring me cookies. _/mutters/_

_**Warnings:**_ Follows the last chapter. Happy reading. Oh, and beware of Hagrid speak. _/cringes/_ Yikes. He's a hard one to write out, give kudos to my beta for putting up with it.

* * *

An uncomfortable silence ensued in the small hunt. Somewhere in the distance thunder roared weakly, signifying the lessening of the storm. Practically the only sound that was heard in the small place was a sound of the raindrops hitting the roof and crackle of the small fire, along with the breathing of the occupants of the hut.

'_Is he for real?'_ The three Ishidas mentally asked themselves incredulously. Yato became even warier – after surviving most of the … experiments made by one crazy scientist named Urahara, he had every right to be suspicious. Not to mention the man's cooking - Yato shuddered involuntarily.

Those were bad, bad memories that would be better left alone, somewhere in a deep, deep corner of his mind.

Ryuuken frowned even more, cobalt blue eyes narrowing suspiciously at the fidgeting half – giant. Who the hell did he think he was, to give Yato a gift - Ryuuken fumed as he clenched the bow a little tighter. It became really tempting to just shoot the man with a couple of hundred arrows and leave it at that. Even if gesture was – nice, Ryuuken had to sourly admit to himself that still didn't give the man the right to - to - practically _bribe _Hayato into attending the school!

It would have worked, if Yato had beena small, insecure child who had no one - but Yato was nothing like that. Although he was quiet and kind of shy with unknown people, Yato also had a temper if anyone crossed over the borders of what was morally or otherwise acceptable. Even if he may have been… a little too idealistic for Ryuuken's tastes, Yato had a heart in right place, and really, attempting to bribe the green – eyed child with a cake…

"Thank you for your kindness," Yato finally managed to speak out, inclining his head lightly to the beaming nuisance that was the Hogwarts' Groundskeeper. "However, my stomach is full - so would you mind terribly postponing eating the cake?"

The half – giant beamed cheerfully. "O' course not, 'Arry!" Then, he hummed as he reached for the owl, which squawked indignantly as it flew to Uryuu's head to avoid the owl – eater, making Uryuu squawk indignantly in protest. "Hey! Gerroff!" He called to the bird, but the scruffy owl ignored him, hooting at him dismissively and ruffling its feathers contentedly, making Yato snicker, Ryuuken smirk and the victim of said owl grumble at the misfortune that befell on him.

"'E likes ya!" The half – giant boomed, black eyes shining with delight, as he set to unwrapping one of the sandwiches Ryuuken and Uryuu prepared for the picnic in secret.

"Uryuu, why didn't you tell me you were such a chick – magnet?" Yato asked his brother innocently, making him splutter with shock, and Ryuuken chuckle lowly at Uryuu's gobsmacked face.

"I didn't - you - _Argh!_" Uryuu exploded his cheeks fetchingly pink with embarrassment from Yato's ribbing. "Yato, that was mean!" But he couldn't help but relish Yato's laughter as those emerald green eyes looked at him with mirth in their verdant depths.

"But why did you have the owl with you anyway?" Ryuuken asked Rubeus person calmly, once he calmed down from the attack of inner mirth his mischievous son caused. The man gulped a bite of the sandwich - half of it, at any rate. "Fer the letter, o' course!" He beamed at Ryuuken, who frowned. "Uryuu, you have your drawing notebook**,** don't you?" He asked his elder son, who nodded in affirmation. "Good. I will need a sheet, and I think I have a pen in my jacket somewhere. Fetch it," he commanded to the both boys, who immediately complied with his orders.

The half giant gawped at the two boy's compliance to the man…. Oh, wait a minute**;** he still didn't know the man's name! "Um… what's yer names?"

His question, although it had a merit, earned him the incredulous looks of his… hosts. Ducking his head sheepishly, he scratched his neck as to hide his embarrassment.

"Ryuuken, do we really have to tell him our names?" Uryuu was reasonably concerned. The whole thing did seem fishy, after all… besides, what kind of school would send a _Groundskeeper_ of all things to collect a potential student? It didn't add up…

Ryuuken looked at the still embarrassed half – giant fleetingly as he accepted the notebook from Uryuu and the pen from Yato. "Does it matter?" He murmured quietly, further winding up the - Rubeus person. "Names do have power, after all."

* * *

Black beetle eyes watched the white – haired man darkly. The half – giant shuffled uncomfortably.

This Muggle… was not an ordinary person

And since that first contact nothing was going smoothly.

Harry was supposed to be a kind little boy, awed at the magic and the possibility of learning it, but instead of that, the boy was shunning it, even going as far as to decline his rightful place in Wizarding world!

It didn't make any sense to Hagrid. Was it possible for Dumbledore to be wrong?

He flinched as those dark blue eyes looked at him briefly, somehow feeling as if the man was looking into his soul and finding him inadequate.

Hagrid had had his fair share of meeting prejudiced people, what with him being half-and-half, and he encountered many kinds of looks – from pitying to disgusted, but this man was… Indifferent.

And this indifference was cold and sharp, like one of the Goblin – forged swords. Unconsciously, Hagrid shivered.

This man was dangerous, something whispered to him, a sixth sense, if you will – not dangerous like those dark wizards or classified beasts he loved so much but…something more.

And Hagrid wasn't so sure he wanted to find out just what kind of dangerous this man truly was.

Especially as the stranger held in his hand a metallic looking bow that glinted coldly in the firelight.

And judging by his grip, the man could – and would**-** use it without hesitation.

The boy wordlessly passed the man the black drawing block, getting a small nod in return. Harry, however, got a little smile, and those cold eyes warmed up a little, making the green – eyed boy smile a little.

Harry gave a small smile in return, and then he nestled himself against the blue – eyed boy, who immediately protectively hugged him to himself. The scene would have been cute if it weren't for the boy's distrustful glare at Hagrid over Harry's wild locks.

Elegant pale fingers held the strange contraption and Hagrid idly wondered just what magic the Muggles were using for the pen to work without dipping it into the ink.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ryuuken was busy with the compilation of the letter. His hand moved across the paper precisely as he swiftly penned the response.

"_To Whom It May Concern,"_

_I am writing you on the behalf of my ward, and adopted son, one Harry James Potter. While it was indeed kind of you to offer him the opportunity of schooling at your esteemed institute of learning, we are not interested in participating or being a part of the Wizarding world in any way, shape or capacity. _

_We would like to thank you for informing us about him having magic, but it was nothing new. Harry knows of his origins and if the need appears, I will find him suitable instructors. Kindly cease sending invitations or persons to persuade us otherwise. _

_With due regards,_

_Ryuuken Ishida._

Cobalt blue eyes narrowed as Ryuuken looked over the letter. Something was missing…so he added the following sentences…

_PS: As he had been abandoned to his abusive relatives, Harry has no wish to get in contact or get contacted by his so-called family, be it Dursleys or Potters. Leave us alone. Failure to comply with this demand will be answered with retribution._

So there. This should do the trick. Ryuuken nodded, satisfied then turned to the boys. "Yato, read and sign it." He beckoned the boy to him, which Yato immediately complied with, much to Uryuu's inwardly pouting. Yato was his snuggle toy, damn it!

Quickly, Yato looked over the letter and nodded. "It's perfect, father." Ryuuken smirked. "Then sign it."

Dark head nodding, Yato picked up the pen from his father's hand and signed his name. With a couple of strokes, there was his name, dark blue on white.

Ryuuken nodded approvingly. "Your calligraphy improved again." He murmured to the boy, hugging him briefly and delighting in the boy's flush of pride.

"Father, may I add some words?" Yato asked shyly, biting his lower lip anxiously. Ryuuken felt a warmth streak along his body at the sight.

"You may." He nodded, restraining himself from hugging the boy. Yato was just so cute, but…it just wouldn't do for the Last Quincy to be seen as pile of mush, would it?

Yato lowered his head and after a moment of thinking, he began to write.

"_Dear Ms. McGonagall,_

_As much as I would like to believe you will heed the words of my father, Ryuuken Ishida, I am writing to you myself. Thank you for your invitation, but I don't want to go to your school. I am just fine where I am learning now, and as my father said, we could always hire tutors if the need appears. _

_As for my…former family, I don't want anything to do with them. The Dursleys had abused me, and they were punished for their misdeeds. In my opinion the Potters are no better – in fact, they are even worse for abandoning a child on the front of__ a__ doorstep in the dead of the night, with no regard to the baby's health and__ the__ feelings of the would-be adoptive family. In case you missed the memo, that means NO. No, I won't attend your school. No, I won't be a part of your backward little society. No, I don't want meet__ the__ Potters or whatever they call themselves now. By their deeds, they are dead to me. I already have a family, so leave me and mine alone. _

_PS: This is your only warning._

_Hayato Ishida, formerly Harry James Potter_

Ryuuken was looking over Yato's shoulder as the boy wrote and he couldn't stop a smug smirk at the boy's scathing words. Yato's addition was just perfect – not too little and not too much, and Uryuu agreed with him.

While Yato was busy with compiling the missive, Uryuu had moved on Yato's other side, also taking peeks at the letter.

"Good one." He said softly, his eyes glinting vindictively.

Yato nodded, and expertly folded a makeshift envelope before putting the two sheets of paper in.

Green eyes looked at the little ruffled owl that still sat in Uryuu's hair.

"I know it isn't the most pleasant weather outside, but would you please carry the letter? It's urgent." He said softly.

Big, intelligent amber eyes regarded him for a moment, before the little owl hooted and hopped down, stretching its leg for Yato to tie the letter on.

Yato quickly tied the letter on, before stroking its head feathers gently, making it start in surprise, before it leaned in his touch. "Take care and fly safe, okay?" Yato whispered to the little bird, who nodded with determination, and then launched in air, before disappearing through one of the holes just under the roof.

"Ye 'ave a hand with beasties, Harry!" The half – giant's voice startled them out of their little idyll, almost making them pull out their weapons.

Yato immediately blushed. "Um, thanks?" He answered, bewildered with the … man's joyful attitude.

"Ye could help mah wit' em, when ya come to Hogwarts!" The giant continued enthusiastically, already imaging which beasties would he introduce to the youngling. Ah, if he only had a dragon…

Yato felt sorry for the man, but he had to crush his illusions. "I'm sorry, but I declined the schooling. As I said, I don't want anything to do with Wizarding world. They abandoned me like yesterday's trash, so I don't care for them."

"B – But Arry!" The man blubbered, his eyes wide. "Magic is great, an' –"

"I know that!" Yato bit out sharply, green eyes narrowing, making Hagrid scuttle back a little. "In case you didn't notice, I don't have issues with magic, but with people who use it! What did that so-called Wizarding world do for me, huh? Did it feed me? Clothe me? Educate me? Tell me!"

Hagrid cringed, wincing at each question. "But Arry, tha Muggleborns –"

"What are these Muggleborns you are speaking of?" Uryuu spoke up, his eyes sharp.

Hagrid sighed. "The un's that don't live in the magical word an' still have magic. Yer Mum is one."

Yato closed his eyes. "So they go into that Wizarding world of your to learn to control magic… and stay here?" he asked softly. Hagrid beamed, nodding.

Both Ishidas knew better.

"And those who live outside, they have to bear with the fear, ridicule and all the other shit until then?" Yato demanded his voice cold. " Nobody finds them until they are eleven and ready to start middle school and life - and then, bam, some weird dude waltzes in, swishes their stick around as a proof, and – _'congratulations, you are wizard! Now if you would be so kind as to leave everything you know and come over there so we can brainwash you into human sheep,'_ is that what you mean?" By the end of his tirade, Yato was practically growling with rage, and the air around them was thick with spiritual pressure.

* * *

Hagrid gasped. The air was literally choking him**;** it was as if he was trying to breathe underwater, so thick it was. However, the three of them were sitting as if nothing was wrong.

"Yato. Calm down." Ryuuken spoke up, placing a hand on the tense boy's naked shoulder, covering the rather nasty scar, while Uryuu embraced Yato around his midriff.

"Hayato…" Uryuu's pleading voice finally drafted Yato out of the fog of his rage. Slowly, the pressure dissipated, allowing Hagrid to take in great gulps of air.

Hagrid watched the boy, terrified. This was… like Dumbledore. And yet – the young boy controlled himself witha remarkable amount of willpower, as nothing had exploded yet.

He gulped. Maybe it would indeed be better for all involved if Harry didn't come to Hogwarts….

"Rubeus." The man's voice startled him, making him jump in his place.

"Y – Yeh?" he stammered, and then immediately flushing with embarrassment at his squeaky tone.

Cobalt blue eyes stared at him calmly. Hagrid couldn't help but feel incredibly small in front of that man now, seeing how easily he helped to rein in Harry's temper. White hair glinted in the firelight with orange streaks. "You may camp with us until the morning, as the weather is too ghastly for you to get back now. But when the sun rises, we will part our ways. Tell the wizards not to bother us. This is only warning I will give. Yato and Uryuu are my family and I will rain Hell and brimstone upon whoever is foolish enough to presume to part us by any means necessary. Is that understood?"

Shakily, the half – giant nodded. "O' –'o course!"

* * *

Yato exhaled slowly. He hadn't lost his temper like that since… ever, he supposed. The Dursleys stomped any and all thoughts about rebelling out of his head, making his self – esteem terrifyingly low, so both Ryuuken and Uryuu had to work a lot of time to assure him he was a person and not a proverbial doormat.

The only reason he didn't fall apart on the spot, was his self - control and Quincy pride. Hell no, he would not allow the stranger to see him bawl like a helpless baby!

When he felt he had enough self control, he opened his eyes and looked at the half – giant.

"I'm sure there are good people in your world, like you… but it's no world of mine. I have nothing to gain, much less anything to go back for." He told the man softly, green eyes a little lost. "I'm sorry for my outburst, but it just makes me so angry when people behave as if they know what I want or need."

Hagrid relaxed a little. "It's alrigh', no harm done. But..." he hesitated, fidgeting a little. "Could ya… uhm…" he poked his fingers together, embarrassed.

Yato blinked. "Yes?" he prompted, smiling a little. "

"Could we be pen pals?" Hagrid blurted out, and then blushed ten shades of red, making Yato chuckle, and Uryuu smile. Ryuuken just smirked.

"Of course, just don't tell anyone." Yato agreed, after he got a nod from his father.

"Wonderful! I'll just send you Tiny, yah? 'E seems to be really attached to you." Hagrid babbled happily.

"Excuse me, but who is Tiny?" Ryuuken asked cautiously. Hagrid gulped nervously. "'E's a postal owl, the one who Arry called fer carriyin' his letters."

Ryuuken relaxed. "As long as she won't make any troubles…" He sighed.

"You know what that means don't you?" Yato asked mischievously. Uryuu's look of dawning horror just made his grin wider.

"My_ hair!" _Uryuu moaned, hiding his face in Yato's neck.

Yato laughed outright, Ryuuken chuckled as he ruffled Yato's hair, and Hagrid fairly boomed with laughter.

The evening had been concluded on a fairly cordial note, with Yato asking Hagrid about the magical animals, with both Ishidas indulging him with faint smiles on their faces.

The tiny owl was winging her way in the hail bravely, amber eyes narrowed with determination as she carried the two letters she was entrusted with to the recipients.

Nobody knew that those two letters would, five hours from now, completely overhauled lives of one particular family, not that the Ishidas cared about it.

* * *

**_/To Be Continued/_**


	6. Rejected!

_REJECTED! _

* * *

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own _**Bleach**_ or _**Harry**_ _**Potter.**_ I own only this little story, however hare brained is it.

_**Summary :**_ _"Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius."_ The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?

_**Shout out: **_Rejoice, all the believers and naggers - _ahem_ _/clears throat/_. I am sorry I didn't update sooner, but really, these last months were bat shit insane. Floods, elections and zumba classes, along with me having to drag the stubborn plotdragons out by their ears or tails - it seems they wanted to hibernate, which was unusual, as they usually bother me every single evening, so... And of course _**Moon Howling Banshee**_ had her mid-terms, so the actual updating is a little belayed. On that note, _**MHB,**_ thank you! I know the horrors of having the little critters called midterms, and I wish you all the best!

_**Warnings:**_ So Tiny has succesfully delivered the letter. However, the news contained within are not good for the Potters.

* * *

The Potter family was very much revered in the Wizarding World, along with Connor being practically worshipped for defeating the terrible You-Know-Who at the mere age of one. The family consisted of three people - James Harold Potter, his wife Lily Ann Potter nee Evans and their adorable little son, Connor Sirius Potter. They were a happy family – James was an Auror about to be promoted to the Vice-Captain of his Squad, Lily was working at home as an independent Charms Mistress and Connor was an ordinary kid with Lily's red hair and James' brown eyes, and was a mischievous troublemaker who was bound to make the teaching faculty of Hogwarts go prematurely gray with his pranks.

A pretty happy and ordinary wizarding family, you would say if you ever saw them. However, this perfect family had a dirty little secret, And what was more, this secret was as of last night, eleven years old.

It was bound to be a rather ordinary day in the office for one Minerva Aislinn McGonagall. The room was decorated in red and brown with some gold accents as befitting to the Head of Gryffindor, but otherwise sparsely furnished. In fact, except for shelves with different texts on Transfiguration and some knick-knacks of sentimental nature, like one rather battered bronze Snitch along with big mahogany table with well-worn chair beside the window, it was bare as it came.

The entire room exuded an air of practicality and minimal comfort in the shape of crimson colored pillow on the window's edge. The fireplace in front of the table was unlit at the moment and decorated with two pairs of Griffins. The floor was made from dark grey stones that were smooth with age.

Right now, the owner of the room was sitting in her chair, checking and re-checking the acceptance letters of the soon-to-be new pupils of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was dressed in conservatively cut robes made from dark fabric and her graying hair was bound back in a severe bun that made her look even more strict. The only color that gave her outfit any vibrancy was a light tartan quilt on her shoulders. It was in the traditional colors of McGonagall clan - red, white and black, and it somehow enriched the somber colors of her otherwise bland brown robes.

Elegant fingers opened the letters, pale blue eyes flew over the words and then, the witch made the appropriate sign in the registry book in front of her with the green and gold feather quill.

The witch was working quietly and efficiently and nobody would have thought she had been working for some four hours already, what with her insomnia attacks.

_TOC TOC_

She lifted her head, looking where the sound had come from. A look of surprise painted itself on her face.

On the other side of the window, there sat an owl - the tiniest one she had ever seen - looking at her with big amber eyes and scruffy feathers. The poor dear was wet to the bone and frankly, McGonagall was surprised that anyone would have the gall to send the poor animal out in such bad weather.

"Oh, you poor thing," She muttered as she flicked her wand to open the window, just enough for the tiny owlet to come through. "Niffy!" She called out, and as soon as she spoke, a small crack was heard.

"Yes, what yous wants from Niffy, Miss McGoolie?" The house elf asked with its high pitched, squeaky voice. The elf wore the standard pillowcase of Hogwarts elves, and McGonagall sighed with exasperation. No matter how many times she told the stubborn creature that her name was not _McGoolie,_ the creature insisted on calling her that, much to the amusement of faculty and her acquaintances.

"Bring a small bowl of finely cut meat for the owl here and a cup of jasmine tea for me, please." She ordered as she reached to relieve the tiny owlet of its burden. "Oh, and dry its feathers too."

"As Miss McGoolie wishes," The elf squeaked out and with a snap of its spindly fingers, the owlet emitted a startled hoot, before it recognized there was no danger anywhere, and then, the elf disappeared in the kitchen, returning a moment later with required items.

After thanking the elf, the stern witch sat down into her chair and eyed the letter in her hands. The makeshift envelope was a little damp and made from a strangely heavy paper. McGonagall frowned a little. It was almost of the quality of the paper the Noble families were using for formal correspondence, but the grain and texture were all wrong. In the years of her tenure as a Deputy Headmistress, she had come into contact with different sizes and shapes of acceptance letters, but this was something…else.

Frowning a little, she opened the envelope, retrieving two sheets of paper of the same quality. She blinked in confusion._ 'Two? ' _She had expected one sheet for acceptance, and maybe more than two - Muggle parents were worrywarts like that - but only two, and from the look of it, there were no excess questions or demands…Just what was going on?

She unfolded the sheets, her pale eyes narrowing at the elegant script on the firsr sheet.

Soon, her confused face changed into a horrorstruck one.

"Oh, no. "She murmured, her hands trembling with shock. This was bad. In desperate hope that the other sheet carried better news, she switched them and began reading again.

However, the longer she read, the more unpleasant the sinking feeling in her gut became. The letters linked themselves into the words in front of her eyes in an elegant dance, and she couldn't believe that a kid of eleven had such elegant writing that would have befitted a much older and experienced person.

When she came to the end of the letter, her eyes almost bugged out.

_"No, I don't want meet the Potters or whatever they call themselves now. By their deeds, they are dead to me. I already have a family, so leave me and mine alone. "_

Those three sentences made her choke with alarm.

You see, in the Wizarding World, disowning was a serious business, although the practice was now largely abolished, and only used in a very old families for disowning Squibs or dishonorable persons. Disowning was almost always performed by the patriarch, or in rare cases, the matriarch of the family, and sometimes, the family members disowned themselves, but it was practically unheard of for a child who had still living parents to sever any and all ties between them. Severing any and all ties meant just what was implied -in this case, the parents didn't have any jurisdiction over the self-disowned child and worst cases come to worst, they were forbidden to interact with him or her by any and every means available.

Her shoulders slumped. "Oh Lily…. What have you done…" McGonagall whispered wearily. Lily was one of her favorite pupils –she wasn't as brilliant in Transfiguration like James was, but she still had her own charm in the shape of inquisitiveness and interesting ideas. She was such a vivacious girl…but McGonagall couldn't fathom just what led her to practically abandon Harry in favor of Connor. She had tried to talk to her about it, but every time she did, Lily was obviously uncomfortable and somehow steered the subject of the talk into safer waters.

McGonagall was also suspicious of the setup, but she couldn't do anything. As a Deputy Headmistress and a Head of Gryffindor, she had her own share of toils and troubles to get through, so she really couldn't take care of the baby, even if she wanted to. And now, it was too late. Inhaling a shaky sigh, she shook her head wearily. The outcome of this…affair wouldn't be pretty, no matter how she turned it.

Slowly, she reached for the writing quill and in the column status beside the name of Harry Potter wrote with red letters one single, damning word.

_REJECTED_

* * *

The tiny owl tilted its head as it looked at the weary witch. Its stomach was now pleasantly full and if Tiny had that very pleasant and black nest of that bespectacled fledgling, it would be in owl heaven. Alas, it wasn't so, and Tiny sighed out a forlorn sigh - or as much of a sigh an owl could emit. But all in a good time.

Tiny nodded to himself, while fluffing its feathers. Slowly, big amber eyes closed and the tiny speedster drifted off to sleep, dreaming of gentle green eyes and a soft black nest that was so very warm... albeit Tiny wouldn't mind if it had been a little bit more fluffed up.

(Somewhere on the way home, one Ishida Uryuu for some reason got a vision of himself having an afro hairstyle of epic proportions with a tiny owl comfortably nestled on top. He shuddered violently as the dread gripped his stomach. It seemed that the peaceful days of having a perfect hairstyle would soon be a thing of the past. However, Ryuuken got the strangest urge to dig up the camera very, very soon. And because a Quincy's hunches were always correct, he resolved to do so as soon as they got home.

* * *

Lily was humming cheerfully to herself. She was in a good mood, and why shouldn't she be? Yesterday it was her darling Connor's birthday, and soon, she would also see Harry. She couldn't wait!

The rosette was still as youthful as she had been when she finished school. Her hair was plaited in a simple braid, and she was clothed in a simple dark blue sweater with soft grey trousers as she impatiently awaited the call. In her hands, Lily cradled a warm mug of chocolate, her little morning sin she always devoured away from her two mischievous men. James was still as crazy as he could be, even if he had calmed down considerably since she began dating him, but Connor showed that he would be just as big of a hellion as James had been in his golden old days. Lily shuddered with dread at the thought of the next generation of Marauders ransacking Hogwarts again. James and his entourage had been bad enough, thank you very much!

_'Maybe Harry would temper him down some….' _She mused, humming as she lifted the mug to her lips. She was feeling a little guilty for hoisting Harry on her sister, but Connor's safety was paramount, and with James always being away and combating Death Eaters, it was impractical to have two babies to take care of. She sighed.

Eleven years. Eleven years since that night when Voldemort managed to find them, courtesy of that damned rat, Pettigrew, crash through the wards and was somehow vanished, courtesy of Connor.

Eleven years since that damned Prophecy was uttered by that inane Trelawney woman and then told to two pairs of young soon-to-be parents.

She sighed. Maybe she should have insisted that Harry be brought back when they were officially cleared of any danger, but…. She didn't. She never visited Petunia either; her sister was a spiteful, loud shrew that despised anything and everything she deemed unnatural. It made Lily sad that her quiet little sister became such a …_bitch,_ but it couldn't be helped. Jealousy always did get out the worst in the people, after all.

And then, there were reporters, fame and no time to take back Harry, because it would be too dangerous - Connor had been almost assassinated at least three times in a week, and Harry would only present an additional liability.

Thankfully, the assassination attempts and kidnappings had dwindled down, but they still had to be cautious, a feat that was additionally harder what with James and Connor practically adoring the spotlight they were in.

However, the guilt still persisted, even if it had been eroded slightly with time. Lily closed her eyes, frowning. What would Harry be like now? Would he be as tall as Connor? Would his hair be just as unruly as James' still or would he have her smoothed out curls? What would be his favorite color? His favorite drink?

There were so many questions going through her mind that it was making her head hurt a little.

She sighed as she looked around the day room. It was sparsely decorated and modern looking if it weren't for the chandelier on the ceiling holding the candles and a fireplace a little too big to be normal. It was a quiet place right now, a stark contrast of the mess that had been the last night as Connor had celebrated his birthday with his friends and acquaintances. House elves were truly a Merlin-given blessing.

The fireplace crackled and Lily turned to it, just in time to see the familiar head of her old Transfiguration professor through the flames.

"Hello, Professor. What brings you here at such an unusual time? Lily asked smiling." Her smile was wanly returned. "Hello, Miss Evans." Lily chuckled a little at her old professor's mannerisims. Even if she had been married for eleven years, McGonagall still insisted on calling her by her maiden name. She then concentrated back to McGonagall. "So you finally got his letter?" She asked excitedly as she moved to crouch in front of the fireplace, but the quick shake of McGonagall's head prevented her from the chosen course of action.

_"_Yes. However, may I come in?" McGonagall asked, making Lily frown with confusion.

"Of course," She replied, stepping away.

A moment later, there was a familiar whoosh and the fireplace spit out a very frazzled McGonagall.

"_Ach, _I will never get used to Flooing." McGonagall growled as she swayed uncertainly on her feet, making Lily quickly steady her. "I agree completely," Lily spoke, hiding a smirk at McGonagall's temporary clumsiness. For being a cat Animagus, and thus in possession of an extraordinary sense of balance, Minerva McGonagall was a complete klutz when it came to Flooing somewhere, thus her immense detest to that particular mode of transportation. She only used it if there was no other way, and even then, with greatest reluctance.

"Thank you," McGonagall spoke primly. "Now, if you have someplace to discuss the matter, I would be much obliged." Lily nodded. "Of course. Do sit down and…. What would you like to drink?" She motioned to the couch and released her hold on the Deputy Headmistress.

"A spot of tea would do me plenty of good," McGonagall answered politely, if not a little distractedly, as she headed to the couch.

Lily blinked. McGonagall was still distracted, which was very unusual for the stern witch. "Is … something wrong, Madam?" She asked hesitantly as she watched McGonagall sit down primly.

"Is James home?" McGonagall asked instead, making Lily's sense of foreboding skyrocket.

"No…he's at work at the moment, something about capturing Yevgenij Alexandrov." She replied, tilting her head.

The old witch sighed. "I would have liked to speak to the both of you, but oh well…This morning, I received a letter."

Lily perked up. "Harry's letter?" She breathed out, her heard thumping faster with expectation. McGonagall nodded. "Harry's letter. Although he goes by Hayato Ishida those days."

Lily blinked. And then froze. The change of Harry's name could mean only one thing….Harry had been adopted. "H-How?" She choked out, bewildered, her blood still feeling like liquid shards of ice travelling in her veins.

McGonagall exhaled a weary breath. "I'm sorry Lily, but…. Read the letter yourself." She muttered, getting the letter out of her pouch and offering it to the distraught ex-pupil.

Lily placed the cup on the desk hastily and snatched the letter. She quickly opened it and unfolded the sheets, absentmindedly noting the letter was written on drawing paper. _'So he's an artist then?'_ She mused to herself, but her short musing was soon abandoned in favor of reading the damning piece of writing.

The words were written in an elegant cursive which Lily would have admired at any other time, but the content was something that burned her dreams of happy reunion with her son into ashes.

_"This…!"_She choked out, dread and fury clutching her throat. "But that is impossible!"

She eyed McGonagall wildly, as if searching for the support, but the old witch only shook her head. "Read the second letter, Miss Evans." McGonagall said firmly.

"Who the hell is that Ryuuken? How_ dare_ he make decisions for my baby?" Lily fumed to herself.

McGonagall eyed her incredulously. "He is the boy's guardian, and by law, he has _every_ right to decide whatever pertains to his ward." She snapped back. "Since you two towed him away to Dursleys, you lost any and every rights to call yourself Harry's parents!"

Lily made to snap back, but she restrained herself. Surely there was some kind of a cruel prank being played on her…. Petunia was always a malicious bitch, and she would have gone to such lengths as to derail her. Yes, that must have been it, Lily concluded, as she shakily swapped the sheets.

However, the second letter was a proverbial nail to the coffin.

The words danced in front of her horrified eyes._ '…. Don't want to go to your school….father, Ryuuken Ishida….former family….Abused….abandoning a child…backwards little society….'_

And then, the most damning part of the letter.

_**'By their deeds, they are dead to me.'**_

She let out the keening sound of a wounded animal. "No….no, that can't be true…"

She almost wailed out as she crumpled the paper in her hands. "How….?"

"I would like to know that too, Miss Evans." She was torn out of her grief by the stern voice of her Transfiguration Professor. "Just what have you done, Lily?"

Lily looked at the stern witch with teary eyes. "I… We…"She choked out, cringing into herself. "We just wanted him to be safe –"

"Hoisting him onto an abusive family is _not _safety, Miss Evans!" McGonagall barked out, her pale eyes afire with anger. "How could you not know Harry had been abused? Surely you saw the signs when you visited him?" She inquired.

Lily looked away shamefully. "I….We didn't." She admitted in a whispery voice, as she bit her lip. A tense silence pervaded the room.

"Are you telling me…." McGonagall began slowly "That you left the kid to them, for eleven years, and in that time, you didn't visit him…. Not even once?"

Lily cringed. "It was a part of the agreement!" She hurried to explain when she saw McGonagall was about to explode with anger. "Petunia agreed to foster him, but only if none of the freaks came anywhere near her family!"

* * *

McGonagall was not a person to be surprised often - the Marauders were an exception, but this - this took the proverbial cake. Her jaw momentarily slacked in utter disbelief before she gathered herself. "You trusted her to rear your child even if she called us…._Freaks?"_ She asked slowly, as if trying to comprehend the situation in all its absurdly ironic glory.

The redhead beside her winced. "Dumbledore made sure there were blood protection wards placed on her house for Harry to be safe." She whispered, blinking the tear away.

"And that excuses you from monitoring him_ how_?" McGonagall demanded, her fingers clutching the cup so tightly her knuckles were white. "You could've used a House Elf, or you could look at him from afar - hell, I still remember that James had this invisible cloak of his –" With every word spoken, Lily seemed to become smaller, making McGonagall watch at her in disbelief.

Where was this vivacious, fiery-tempered girl that protected her Slytherin friend with such fervor that she had gone even against the infamous Marauders? Where was the Prefect that docked a hundred points off of Lucius Malfoy for bullying a Hufflepuff girl? Where was the woman that stood up against the darkest Lord for three times and lived to tell the tale?

In front of her, there sat a redheaded woman who had been enjoying her life for eleven years, while her son was forced to suffer the abuse of her magic-hating sister and her family, not even knowing his rightful heritage, and what was even worse, that he had a family.

_'But maybe,' _McGonagall mused_, 'not knowing was a blessing in a disguise.' _If he had known, Harry – no, Hayato - would have grown up bitter and resentful, hating everything and everyone. However, instead of that, he seemed to be a mature young man she wouldn't have minded getting to know to, but alas, it seemed her wish would be only a pipe dreams.

She stood up. "I am disappointed with you, Lily. As much as it pains me to admit, Mr. Ishida and his son were right to decline the invitation." Her words were short and concise. She turned away and headed to the fireplace. "You and James…. It makes me wonder which one out of you two and Pettigrew was the biggest coward."

She left Lily staring at the crumpled letter with teary dull eyes as she threw the handful of Floo powder into the fireplace, called out the destination and vanished into the flames.

The redheaded woman on the couch curled into herself, her previously silent sobs growing in volume, as she poured out her grief and guilt in the shape of hot, salty tears.

* * *

Outside of the room, a pair of wide brown eyes stared at the broken woman on the couch.

_'Mum…?'_

* * *

_**/To Be Continued/**  
_


	7. Unpleasant Encounters

_UNPLEASANT ENCOUNTERS_

* * *

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own **_Harry Potter_** nor do I own**_ Bleach._** What I own is this lil' story, however crazy it is _/happy smirk/_

**_Shout Out:_**Yo. Back in the old saddle again. I have to apologize to you for getting this lil' one out so late, but honestly, the chapter was just being a monumental berk /glares at the thing/. So, this chapter is still finished... somewhat _/ahem/,_ and the next is either **_Fire And_** **_Ice_** or **_Among The Hawks And Doves._** _/Twitches, glaring at the chosen projects/. _I will get you. Just... you... Wait _/growls/._ Ahem, plotdragons are naughty, so I apologize. Once again, thanks to my beta, **_MHB _**for her checking the draft. You really rock!

**_Warnings:_** Well, not everyone is happy that one Harry James potter won't return to Wizarding World, much less attend Hogwarts. Neither is our favorite trio of archers with the intruders.

* * *

It was a week after that… encounter with the Rubeus person. Rubeus insisted on being called Hagrid, even if Yato felt it was impolite to call a total stranger by his name. Finally they compromised, with Hagrid being called Hagrid-san - Uryuu had to explain the half giant the suffix, but after he did, Hagrid-san accepted it.

Hagrid-san did try to persuade Yato to change his mind upon parting their ways, but Yato was firm, much to the Ryuuken's satisfaction. Uryuu was just relieved that his little brother wouldn't be separated from him anytime soon.

So…Their lives returned to normal, what with Yato and Uryuu continuing their schooling and training, as the date for the archery competition was nearing. Ryuuken's workload had lessened some, although he did chew out some interns for near fatal treatment of the patient, some girl named Hermione Granger. Apparently the girl was allergic to some of the medicines, and somehow, the interns that handled her case, managed to overlook it, almost causing the girl to relapse when they had operated the appendix. Luckily, Ryuuken noticed that something was wrong and set to correct the mistake… and just in time. Any more time, and the poor girl would have gone in series of seizures that would take her life.

The girl's parents were suitably thankful, and the girl seemed to have a crush on the handsome Doctor Ishida, much to the latter's chagrin and the staff's amusement. Ryuuken just prayed that Uryuu never, ever found out about that particular incident, because it was bound to be mortifying.

Somehow, the bushy-haired little girl caught him unaware and managed to press a smooch on his lips when he was looking at her health chart. He had been checking her eyes, when suddenly; the little brat moved upward and planted one on him. The only saving grace was that it happened at night, so none of the nurses were witnesses to his humiliation.

Although it was very satisfying that she couldn't look him eye in the eye afterwards for some time… and Ryuuken had enough self-control not to blush when in her presence. Still, it was an uncomfortable experience; because he was older than her by far, and it didn't help he didn't have any interest in women after his wife. He just wasn't interested, and it had gone as far as to Isshin trying to drag him off into a_ nakama_ bar, as he was convicted that some… hard-lovin' would loosen the apparent stick in Ryuuken's ass.

Ryuuken retaliated with sending a hail of the _reishi_-made arrows on the man - in fact, Isshin was the culprit who triggered Ryuuken's ability to fire a multitude of shots at the same time. Ryuuken didn't know whether he should have been grateful to or irked at the idiot - he had reached a plateau with the technique, and there goes Isshin-_ahou_, does his thing - i.e. pissing Ryuuken off, and lo and behold, Ryuuken has an subconscious light bulb moment about how to fire many, many pretty blue arrows at his ass. Of course, both of them were then scolded by Masaki, but as far as it had gone, both of them thought it was completely worth it - Isshin because he managed to get Ryuuken out of his ice persona shield, and Ryuuken because he got a hold on a very advanced technique without having to resort to the _sanrei _glove.

Closing his eyes he exhaled a weary sigh. As much as he loved reminiscing, he still had to get going if he wanted to come home at a reasonable hour. Yato promised he would make Ryuuken's favorite dish. And besides…

Blue eyes narrowed with contemplation.

Someone was following him.

* * *

He watched as the man in light gray suit looked up from the papers in his hand and turned around. He swallowed.

The man was clearly intimidating, what with his white hair and cool blue eyes - they were the eyes of someone in charge, someone who wouldn't hesitate to act if things were to go sideways.

That didn't comfort him any.

He had followed the man for half a day already - he had found out that the man was a doctor in a Muggle hospital and an important one, if the number of deferring Muggles in blue and white meant anything, but that still didn't answer his main problem of following the man.

Until then, he was lucky - more than lucky in fact, but now, the man was going home and that was a little bit harder part, because that meant he would have to follow the man - and he would have to be extra cautious and fast as he wasn't supposed to be here and he was in a deep enough trouble as it were.

He nearly yelped as he saw the man wasn't where he was supposed to be, but after some frantic looking around, he spotted him walking down the corridor and hurried after him, being careful not to hit anyone or anything on his way.

* * *

Ryuuken sighed. It felt as if he was - once again - playing one of those damned hide-and-seek games Isshin_-ahou_ was so fond of. He still didn't know just how could such a ditzy person like the ex-Shinigami even exist on this world, never mind manage to catch Masaki's heart. But it had happened, so he had to contend with the pseudo-brother-in-law, as annoying as he was.

At least his kids were a lot more tolerable than their sire. Ryuuken wouldn't have known what to do if Isshin had sired the hellion replica of himself. The world was already occupied by Urahara and Isshin and that was more than enough of idiots existing in Ryuuken's humble opinion, thank you very much.

Still…

He walked on, never giving his stalker a clue he was already onto them. His eyes narrowed at the familiar feel of the energy, but when he covertly looked at the place the energy emitted from he saw… _Nothing?_

Perhaps a new kind of Hollow?

True, there were Hollows that could make themselves invisible, but the energy readings were completely false. In fact, they reminded him of...

His lips quirked into a small smirk.

* * *

He was gasping with the need for air - that tailing business was harder than it seemed to be at first sight and he sorely wished he could have used some other means of transportation but for now, he was limited to using his own legs.

However it seemed the luck would finally favor him, as the man was finally stopping at what he assumed to be ele-vaytor, one of those small boxes Muggles were using for transporting themselves from the ground to upper levers of the building.

He inched closer, and after some breathless moments, he quickly snuck nearer to the man, careful not to rustle more than necessary.

_WHOOSH._

He almost flinched at the hiss of the elevator doors opening, but he didn't waste the chance, quickly shuffling in the plain metal-lined box.

Then, he was grabbed by the shoulder, his arm twisted and harshly pressed against the cool metal of the elevator's wall, his eyes wide in the dull electric light.

His blood froze as the hood was wrestled from his head and his wide hazel eyes looked into the predatory deep blue colored ones.

The man's lips curved into a thin smirk.

But what really chilled his blood was one single word the man spoke.

"Gotcha."

The boy gulped, his eyes wide with terror.

He was definitely in a deep shit right now.

* * *

Cold blue eyes stared at the boy in front of him. "You've been following me for a day." The boy in question winced, his wide, fearful eyes behind the black-framed glasses eyeing Ryuuken with no small amount of fear.

"You are one of the Potters." Ryuuken concluded, watching how the boy's brown eyes became huge at his statement. He tilted his head, eyeing the child indifferently.

The boy was clothed into jeans trousers with red short-sleeved shirt with tacky _'Born To Be Gryffindor' _logo printed on in gold letters. His shoes were made from some strange material that reminisced on a crocodile leather and really, the entire effect was bordering on ridiculousness. The boy's face was a little chubby with puppy fat, indicating he wanted for nothing when it came to food - the shape of his eyes was similar to Yato's, even if the color was different. And the boy's red hair was just as unruly as Yato's. Ryuuken had confiscated the strange watery-looking cloak, making the teen protest a bit at first, but one sharp glance made the boy squeak and cease complaining.

"Uh, yeah. And you are Mr. Is-heeey-da." The boy practically butchered his surname, making Ruuken's eyebrow twitch a little. Surely it wasn't THAT hard to pronounce…. Or was it?

"Indeed. Why were you following me?" Ryuuken didn't deign to comment on the boy's atrocious pronunciation of his surname. The boy winced. "Wanted to see my brother." His small whisper and the scuffling of his feet made him look like a picture perfect of contrition, but Ryuuken still wasn't sold.

"So you were sent to convince him to join that mad world, weren't you?" He muttered, his voice mild.

"No! They don't know!" The boy hurried up, his cheeks flushing shamefully at the admittance of his wrongdoing. Ryuuken felt the headache building in the back of his head. _'So we have a rule breaker on our hands…Great. Just great.' _He concluded sourly, not happy with the revelation. Rule breakers meant trouble, and this one was especially big kind of trouble, because it meant hysterical parents pounding on his door - Ryuuken didn't have any delusions they would be given a reprieve to live apart from the madness that was the Wizarding world, but he still hoped they would be given that particular reprieve. They already had to contend with Spirit world, after all. And with the Wizarding world forcing themselves on Ryuuken's little family, it would be safe to say that the white-haired Quincy was less than pleased.

"And you still thought it was bright idea to come here?" Ryuuken snapped, making the boy flinch, but then glare stubbornly. "I wanted to meet my brother!" The youth exclaimed loudly, making some people eye them strangely. "What makes you think your so-called '_brother'_ – " Ryuuken made air quotes with his fingers sharply – "even wants to meet you? Didn't your parent tell you that Yato refused to associate with them?"

Brown eyes glared in blue ones in confused hurt. "But he is my brother! And besides, what does _'associate' _means?" The boy's hands were balled in fists and Ryuuken sighed. "He refused to meet you. To be with you. To talk to you." He had to hammer the ugly truth in the foolish child's head so there won't be any doubt about it. Privately, he mused about siccing Uryuu on the stubborn brat, but there was no need for overkill… yet. Uryuu was notoriously protective of his little _otouto_, even going so far as to get in the scuffles when some kids wanted to bully the waifish green-eyed child. And even now, when Yato was fully capable of protecting himself, Uryuu still kept an eye on him… just in case.

"B–But he is my brother!" The boy stuttered, brown eyes wide with hurt and glimmering with unshed tears. Ryuuken sighed. "But you are not his." he countered softly. "Your family gave him up because they thought that he was a Squib. After all, what use would a Squib be in your wonderful little world?" He sneered the last three words out bitterly. "And now, when they found out that they were mistaken, they want him back, as if he were some kind of a repaired toy. No, boy. I won't let you hurt him. Go back home."

He turned around, intent to march to his car when he was grabbed by the sleeve of his suit. "I won't hurt him. Why are you so mean?" The boy asked, his voice trembling with repressed emotions. Ryuuken's slender white eyebrows scrunched in thinly veiled agitation.

"You may not want to hurt him, but your existence already did." He snapped back. "Let go of me, boy."

"Why? What did I do?" The boy insisted, still clutching stubbornly on the sleeve of the light gray tailored suit.

"Ask your parents." Ryuuken was at the wits' end with the stubborn brat. "Go home and ask them." His fingers itched to summon his bow and let loose in some good old fashioned violence, but well, he had to be civil still… somewhat.

"But they didn't tell me anything!" The boy burst out, annoyed. "Mum is crying, and Dad is gloomy! I only know that they gave Harry away to the relatives, dunno why, but now Harry doesn't want to come back! He has a family and – "

"And what?" Ryuuken interrupted the blabbing child harshly. "Does that mean he has to abandon the family he got now just because of your selfish desires?"

Blue eyes stared into shocked brown ones. "But we want him back." The boy whispered lamely as he hung his head. "We should be his family."

"You should." The unexpected agreement made the boy's - he really needed a name, Ryuuken mused - head snap up in renewed hope. "So why are you so mean and don't let him go?" He asked, his lips twisted in a stubborn pout.

"Because your chance had already passed." Ryuuken sighed at the boy's mutinous glare at his person. "Did you know that until he got his letter, Yato thought his family was dead?"

The boy jerked with surprise. "What! Why? Mum – "He stammered, a multitude of questions and doubts whirling through his head. "No. You lie. You are lying!" He choked out as he released the sleeve's fabric from his numbed fingers.

"Why would I lie to you?" Ryuuken asked coldly. "I was with him when he found out about you and your family." Slender fingers rubbed the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off the headache turned migraine that gnawed at his brain. The sun was setting down, and Ryuuken had a sinking feeling that his meal would have to be heated again. And he hated heated meals.

"I don't know! You want him for yourself!" The boy shot back, his frame trembling with shock. Blue eyes widened imperceptibly, before they narrowed again. "So? He is my family - part of our family - now, and I don't have any intention to let him go back to the idiots that left him with abusive guardians!" He growled out defensively.

_"Ab - abusive?"_ The boy whispered. Ryuuken nodded. "They hit him. Starved him. And that is just the tip of the iceberg." He sighed wearily at the boy's horror stuck face. "Just go. Leave us alone." He sharply turned around and strode away.

"W–Wait!" The boy called after him, and a moment later, the hurried steps neared to his person.

Ryuuken glared in the distance. "What now, boy?" he asked grumpily.

"Um… I don't know how to go back?" The boy's sheepish voice admitted, making the last Quincy sigh with exasperated frustration.

It seemed that those Wizards and witches were utterly lacking some kind of a common sense.

_'Oh, great.'_ Ryuuken grumbled mentally. _'A whole nation of Kurosaki-ahous. Just wonderful.' _

He fished a cellphone out of his jacket, and much to the fascination of the wizarding child, pressed some buttons and placed it to his ear.

"Uryuu? Tell Yato we will have an additional person to feed." After receiving a confirmation he cut the connection off and placed the phone back in his jacket, much to the kid's fascination.

The white-haired man then looked at the kid. "Come."

"Thanks, mister!" Beaming, the boy followed him, almost bouncing on the soles of his feet.

Ryuuken just sighed.

Yato hummed to himself as he was finishing the preparation for the dinner. It was a simple dish - cooked white rice and vegetables in sweet and sour sauce with yakitori and cabbage salad. Simple but filling enough to finish the day with a comfortably full stomach. Before he came to Ishida household, Yato had known only British cuisine, but that had changed through the years. He still cooked British food, but he also experimented with recipes from all over the world, especially desserts. Uryuu had gotten addicted to the coconut cake, while Ryuuken was happy with ginger cookies - he even had a stash of them in his office and woe betide anyone who dared to mess with it. Once, the primary was stupid enough to get his sticky fingers into that particular cookie box, and resulting in Ryuuken being in demonic mood for a week - the Week of Doom, as the hospital workers later named it. By that time, Ryuuken was practically the boss-to-go in the hospital, and for him dumping his….ah, responsibilities - well, not really his - back to the primary in question resulted in chaos. Nobody really knew just how much work Ryuuken had been doing up until then, and still stay on the top of things, so it was a shock of epic proportions to find out just how much did they unconsciously relied on the stern, white-haired and blue-eyed doctor.

What happened was that the primary had found himself with a nice big stack of papers to get through on his desk and with a small notice that Ryuuken will be doing only his duties from now on. At first, a very ordinary notice - but the paperwork accompanying it had to be filled on the same day and Ryuuken doing only his duties meant dumping the visitations the primary was usually _not_ doing back on the man's shoulders - which meant the primary had to learn about the patients under his supervision in a hurry. By the end of the day the nurses were actually in tears over the mess, and primary was all but begging Ryuuken to come back, however the last Quincy stubbornly refused. He held down the fort for a week until head nurse found out Ishida's home phone number and called, practically begging Yato to somehow make Ryuuken come out of his funk. It took four plates of cookies and triple-swearing on the primary's side to NOT get into Ryuuken's batch of cookies (ever again), along with a raise before Ryuuken finally capitulated and agreed to come back to work. From then on, the hospital added a new rule for the already existing staff and any newbies that came to internship:Do Not Touch Dr. Ishida's Special Box Of Ginger Cookies No Matter How Tempting They May Be. Yup, with capital letters to boot, too. Break this particular rule and you are on your own.

Yato chuckled as he reminisced about that particular memory. He still remembered how Ryuuken came back home in a snit, and even if the man didn't want to admit, he was pouting about the loss of his precious cookies. Subtly pouting - frowning, in Ryuuken's opinion - but pouting nonetheless. Since then, Yato made sure he always had a dozen of fresh cookies awaiting the man for when he got home.

"Who do you think will join us to dinner?" He asked Uryuu idly as he checked the cookies in the oven and nodded to himself. Five minutes more, and they would be finished.

"Beats me." His older brother replied as he opened a fridge to take out the orange juice. Uryuu had just showered, so he was clothed only in the dark blue boxers and had a white fluffy towel around his neck. His hair was still messy and wet, but he still wore the glasses. Yato looked at his brother inquiringly. "You are not telling me something." He noted, making Uryuu sigh as he ruffled his hair. "Well, no, I don't know. He sounded terse. Terser than usual, I mean." Yato frowned at Uryuu's words. "Not any of his colleagues, then." He remarked while checking the rice.

Uryuu nodded silently as he watched Yato minding the food, fussing over the taste of the sauce. In some aspects, Yato was such a housewife, but Uryuu couldn't complain, what with Ryuuken being adequate in cooking, and him being…well, not very good in kitchen. The sun had already settled, and the darkness was creeping through the windows, painting the kitchen in soft light from the hood lamp.

Yato was clothed in baggy dark jeans and green T-shirt with black sleeves, his messy hair pulled back in a small ponytail at his nape. They discovered that his hair was more manageable when it was a little longer, so much to Yato's pouting and Ryuuken's secret delight, the boy had to grow out his hair. Yoruichi also had an unhealthy amount of obsession with Yato's hair, always playing with the messy strands and exclaiming how soft they were. Uryuu was just grateful that the insane cat-woman hadn't tried to get away with Yato - her attempts at adopting his little brother were wholly unappreciated and unnecessary, in his opinion - the opinion Ryuuken shared wholeheartedly, making Yoruichi dodge a hail of lethal arrows every time she even dared to mention the heinous suggestion. Crazy cat-woman and her silly antics... Uryuu shook his head with a sigh.

"You alright?" Yato asked him, making him blink. _ "Un."_ Uryuu nodded as he poured orange juice into the glass until it was half full. "Just wondering what is taking Ryuuken so long." He grumbled as he put the tetrapak back to the fridge. "It can't be helped, Uryuu." Yato replied, shrugging.

"Yeah, but it's still strange…" Uryuu trailed off, his eyebrows scrunching with annoyance. And it also raised the red flag in his mind, as Ryuuken didn't tell jut who exactly would be their mystery guest for the evening. This… stunk to high heavens, and with the latest happenings, Uryuu was cautious around everyone and anyone - not that witches and wizards weren't easy to spot, they always wore some ridiculous, behind-the-times outfits that made his fingers itch to remodel them into something more modern or just plain burn them, but still - with their abilities, they had to be cautious as not to be carted off to be dissected. He shivered as the air finally cooled his skin enough for him to feel uncomfortable. Drinking the juice in one shot, he put the glass on the counter. "I'm going to find some clothes. Will you be okay?"

Yato snorted. Uryuu really was too overprotective for his own good. "Shoo, go on." He made a shooing motion with a hand, smiling as Uryuu shook his head. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes." His brother smiled at him - a small smile, as he walked away. Yato watched him go fondly, before he turned around and stirred the sauce, causing the sweet scent to spread across the kitchen.

It was bound to be another peaceful evening in the Ishida household.

_"Tadaima."_ Ryuuken called out as he opened the door of his apartment, a certain red-haired brat still gaping like a brainless guppy at the colors and décor of the hallway. It simultaneously irked and amused the last Quincy - hadn't the brat ever seen the apartment building in his life? Judging by his reaction, he was fairly sheltered, and it didn't help that Ryuuken was fairly well off and the Ishida family was living in one of the better apartment complexes. If he was any lesser being, Ryuuken would have rolled his eyes with exasperation, but the brat was not his problem. Well, he won't be his problem for long, at any rate…

….Hopefully.

_"Okaeri."_ Yato's call made Ryuuken's lips twitch a little in a semi-smile. "You are right on time - the food is finished."

"Aa." Ryuuken nodded. "Take your shoes off, brat." He addressed the redheaded guppy that followed him inside, while he put away the jacket, and then stepping out of his shoes and into white slippers with tiny embroidery of blue crosses.

"Uh, wha? – "The brat gawped for a moment, but one of Ryuuken's looks prompted him to snap his mouth shut and do as he had been told. The antechamber was fairly small and done in dark wood with some lighter accents thrown in as to lighten the place, along with small bonsai and a picture made from dried pressed flowers on the wall. The entire place was simple, but in that simplicity was an understated beauty that drew the red-haired visitor's eyes to the place, looking from one side to another – it was so very different that the clunky, rich anteroom at his home. And the scent in the air was just divine, making him drool a little bit when he imagined the succulent meal that awaited them.

Connor scrambled after the man like a helpless puppy - both because he had a gut feeling that it wasn't wise to annoy the man further and because he was hungry. He hadn't eaten for a whole day, except for breakfast, and in his haste to find his brother he forgot to take along the Muggle money – and it didn't help that he had to be under the invisible cloak. The entire adventure sucked, but it couldn't be helped. Sometimes small needs had to be sacrificed for the greater good.

He followed Mr Is-heey-da to another room, which was a curious mixture of a living room and kitchen in one.

"Ryuuken." The voice prompted him to look at the speaker, which was a black-haired, blue-eyed, glasses-wearing boy, older than him. He was clothed in white shirt with dark blue pullover and jeans trousers. He was taller than Connor, and the boy wizard couldn't help but flinch at the expression of those cold blue eyes when he was noticed."Uryuu." Ryuuken nodded at his son. "This is our guest. Connor Potter." Uryuu's eyes became even colder if that was possible, and briefly, Connor wondered if it was really good idea to come here. That glare was not promising any happy welcome anytime soon.

"You think that's wise?" Uryuu questioned the man, his deep blue eyes narrowing with mild irritation at the unexpected intrusion of their home. "No." Ryuuken's answer was stark with his honesty. "However, he was lost and couldn't find his way back. Leaving him behind would create more trouble that he is worth." Connor flinched at the bald-faced assessment, biting his lip as he clenched his left hand into a fist. He had known that it would be bad when he headed out to fetch his brother back, but that amount of almost outright hostility still hurt him. He had been used to be praised, even deferred to, and very rarely people dared to be rude to him. So Ryuuken's cold demeanor shocked him, but he still hoped this was not the premonition of how the meeting would evolve.

"Hello," He managed to get out, offering a feeble smile, which died a quick death at the uncaring look in Uryuu's eyes.

"Good evening, Potter-san." Uryuu replied. "Yato is changing his clothes." He addressed Ryuuken. "The dinner will be in a minute."

Ryuuken nodded curtly. "Go wash your hands and then sit down." He instructed Connor as he strode back to the door leaving the two boys alone.

Yato was humming happily as he was changing his clothes. Today, there were black baggy trousers and deep gray shawl knit jumper with a light gray ribbed section at the neck with a fold down collar. He was just donning on the jumper, when somebody embraced him around his waist, making him squeak with surprise, before he calmed as he felt the familiar contours of his Father's body press against his.

"Don't do that!" He scolded the man, feeling him hum and nuzzle against his still-covered head, before he was released and those gentle hands helped him to tug the hem of the garment down. "Do what, Yato?" The man asked innocently, his lips quirking in a mischievous smirk, making Yato huff in exasperation as he looked at his faux-innocent expression.

"You know very well what," Yato growled, green eyes narrowing in irritation. "Scaring me like that!" he grumbled, making Ryuuken chuckle a bit as he was engulfed in the older man's hug. "And what are you doing, you are still dressed in your work clothes!" Yato fussed over the man, frowning as Ryuuken became serious at once.

"Never mind the clothes. Yato, the guest we're having... it's your brother."

Yato felt the blood drain from his face. "We _what_?"

Ryuuken held back a wince at his younger child's faint question. It wasn't fair to invite the idiotic Potter boy into his home, what with Yato's aversion to his former family, but the brat would have made a ruckus otherwise - when his parents would have found out just why was their idiotic progeny was traipsing in the Muggle world, Ryuuken would have been accused of not taking care of the brat just on principle that the kid was searching for Ishida Yato, and with Ryuuken being the head of the family, that made him by proxy the host of the irritating child. He would have loved to leave the irritating brat for the Potters to find and thus he would have saved much grief to Yato and he just knew Uryuu would be bristling like wet cat for a week afterwards, but it couldn't be helped.

"How the fuck did the kid even find out where we live?" Yato growled out, incensed.

Ryuuken blinked. "Yeah, just how did he do that? I was under impression the wizarding world was still in the medieval age." Blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Just another question he would have to ask their… guest. But right now, he was content to hold Yato in his embrace, wordlessly supporting the shell-shocked boy.

* * *

One Ishida Uryuu was not a happy camper. The cause was sitting behind the dining desk, awkwardly shifting on his chair. In his honest opinion, Uryuu just couldn't see this… boy as Yato's sibling. This… Connor was just too awkward. Maybe this was Uryuu's prejudice speaking - he of course had the best little brother on the whole wide world - but still!

"We told your parents we don't wish for any contact with them or that Wizarding world of yours." He finally spoke, startling the redheaded boy into emitting a small squeak. "So why are you here?"

Brown eyes looked into his own blue ones as the wizard-boy scowled. "He is my brother! Of course he is a wizard!" Connor retorted, pouting stubbornly. No way that this…bespectacled stick-in-the-mud would take his brother from him! And if that meant he had to sneak away to convince him to leave the two scary men, he would do it - he was a Gryffindor and the Boy-Who-Lived! Believe it!

He glared at the aptly described stick in a mud, willing him to crumble and admit that he, Connor, was right, and this… stick-in-the-mud person was wrong. However, his attention was diverted as the door opened, revealing a slender boy in gray pullover and black baggy trousers. His messy hair, Connor noted, was gathered in a low ponytail, and he didn't wear glasses. His face was slender, reminding him of Mum's which was even more underlined with those brilliant green eyes. His breath hitched and eyes widened involuntarily as the boy greeted the stick in the mud with a small murmur.

This… was his brother, Connor knew that without doubt.

This was Harry Potter.

Green eyes zeroed on him, and Connor blushed. "Um - H-hi!" He squeaked out, waving awkwardly and promptly wincing at his behavior. How in the hell could he, Boy-Who-Lived, the media darling, stutter? He glared at the chuckling stick-in-the mud, ideas for sweet revenge dancing through his mind.

"Hello." Harry answered, but much to Connor's disappointment, his brother didn't smile at him. "So how did you find me?" Dark eyebrow quirked at him, making Connor puffed up like a puffer fish with pride. "Easy!" Connor grinned, eager to awe his brother with his cleverness. "I read the letter, and there this… Is-heeey-da Ryu-ken" - he stumbled over the foreign words – "was listed, so I asked Mipsy to bring me one of those fellytone books and ta-dah!" He waved excitedly. "Address found!"

_"Fellytones?"_ The stick-in-the-mud asked sardonically. "It's a wonder you even found the way here." "Hey!" Connor pouted. "I found the way just fine!" He pushed the glasses high up his on his nose, barely restraining himself to stick his tongue out. Manners sucked.

"And then you stalked me for more than half a day." The doctor's voice made him cringe and subtly glare at the white-haired man who entered the room. "And not very well at that."

"If I was so bad, then you would've caught me way before than you did!" Connor snapped back mutinously, now glaring at the man without restrain. "Anyway, I didn't come here to you. I came for Harry!" He looked at his brother, deflating as he saw only the youth's back.

"I already said I don't want to do anything with Potters or Wizarding world." The green-eyed youth's answer was muffled as he was turned away, searching for the appropriate cutlery. "Why are you insisting for me to go back where I am not wanted, anyway?"

"What do you mean, you aren't wanted?" Connor snapped, brown eyes narrowing. "Mum cried when she saw that letter and Dad is all gloomy! Just - come back, Harry."

"Bet they didn't tell you about him." The stick-in-the-mud interjected, his eyebrows arching minutely at Connor's guilty flinch. "He was to be a dirty little secret, away from you." The silver – spectacled boy paused, before he spoke again, his voice a touch colder than before. "Get real. If they wanted him, they would have told you that you have a brother way before this. Instead of this, they covered that fact, towing him away to those bastard relatives, just to have their happy little life with you!" The boy approached him, dark blue eyes blazing behind the slender glasses, making Connor flinch and attempt to scoot back on his seat. Ishida Uryuu, even if he was clothed only in faded blue jeans and simple blue jumper, was an intimidating person.

"Uryuu!" A stern call from Harry stopped the taller youth in his tracks. "Come help me to carry the dishes." Connor wanted to glomp his brother with gratitude for his intervention.

"Yes, Yato." The blue-eyed boy replied, holding his gaze for a moment longer with Connor's eyes, before complying. Connor's jaw clenched at the use of that foreign name, but he remained silent. There was no use in provoking more trouble than he already had.

* * *

Uryuu glared at the presumptuous brat a little longer before he turned and strode to the stove for the dishes. He would have to have a word with Ryuuken and his silly sense of obligations. All this was bad for Yato, and this…Connor brat insinuating himself into their dinner was just unforgivable. On one hand, he understood Ryuuken's reasoning - better the enemy you know than the one you don't - but on the other hand, Uryuu would've been just fine if Ryuuken would have left the brat back there at the hospital for his irresponsible parents to find him. Really, just what did Connor's parents think, leaving the brat without supervision? Uryuu had to be self-sufficient by necessity, and even if Ryuuken wasn't the best parental figure, he still took his time to sit Uryuu down and explain him the do's and don'ts of the world. Uryuu wasn't the kind of kid to search for trouble, but Connor's behavior just rubbed his proverbial fur the wrong way. He could just imagine what kind of trouble would have Connor gotten Yato into, if Yato would have been left with the Potters. Irresponsible, annoying, little….

He blinked as he put the dish on the desk, flushing a little under Ryuuken's knowing gaze. However, both of the Ishidas knew one thing. No way in hell would they let anyone take their Yato from them.

The final preparations were done swiftly, and soon, the small family - and one visitor were sitting behind the table and enjoying the sumptuous meal.

* * *

Connor was borderline on inhaling the food, it was so delicious he could have wept with the sheer enjoyment of the tastes exploding on his tongue.

"So good!" he managed to moan between bites, making Ryuuken nod and the stick-in-the-mud – he really had to get to remember the boy's name - snort at his manners, causing him flush with embarrassment.

"Thank you." His brother replied before he tucked back in his mix of rice and vegetables. Usually, Connor would have protested against having vegetables, but these were just too delicious not to be gobbled down and mentally, he made a note to ask Mipsy to get the recipe. Hungrily, he eyed the next stick, not minding the fact he still had three on his plate.

"So, how was your work?" Connor's brother asked, making Connor perk up, and he happily opened his mouth to answer the question, not even minding that he was still in a mid-chew. "Like usual." Ryuuken answered, while Connor snapped his mouth shut, flush with embarrassment at his assumption that Harry addressed him. "Mrs. Stanley will be released in three days if all goes well - your suggestion was the right one." Connor watched his brother duck his head and flush with embarrassment. "I a had good teacher." Harry replied back. The stick-in-the-mud snorted. "Stop making him your personal assistant. Don't you have any other apprentices to haze?" He sniped back at the man, making him glare at him. "You mean that incompetent bunch that can't even insert a catheter right? No, thank you. I wouldn't trust them with a lab rat, much less with human lives." Ryuuken snapped back. "Besides, Yato doesn't mind." Connnor shrank away from the glaring males.

"Stop it!" His brother admonished the Ishidas. "Uryuu, I don't mind, and father, stop teasing him!" Green eyes, so like his Mum's glared at the white-haired man and then switched to his brother, making both of the men drop their shoulders with chagrin. Connor looked at his brother with awe. For Harry to get between the two scary members of his… 'family', well, in Connor's mind, Harry would do in Gryffindor just fine. Because the two of them were scary as heck, and that was saying something, when Connor was in the regular presence of the Dungeon Bat himself, one Severus Snape.

Now, if only he could convince Harry to get back with him…

"Sorry." Uryuu muttered back, a glint of amusement in his dark eyes, only discernible to Yato, who sighed with exasperation. Once in a while, Uryuu would tease Ryuuken with a complaint like this one, just to get a rise out of the white - haired man. It was funny, because it never seemed to fail, no matter how much Ryuuken swore he wouldn't fall for it… next time. The _'next time'_ he still fell for it, with no exceptions, much to Uryuu's glee and Yato's exasperation.

"You two," Yato grumbled good-naturedly, smiling slightly at them, relishing the small spark of warmth in Ryuuken's eyes and equally as small smirk on Uryuu's lips. Yes, the two of them were mostly exasperating with their antics, but to Yato, they were his family he was very fond of, so he learned to tolerate and even take a small bit of amusement out of their shenanigans. It was… like pulling pigtails in reverse in some weird way. However, it was still better than Kurosaki-san's insane shows of devotion. Yato shuddered at the remembrance of one of those. His pseudo-Godfather was a bunch of crazies, and he could only pity Ichigo who had to take the brunt of the man's 'manly' affections. Both he and Uryuu wondered just how that was the 'berry stayed sane under such duress, the presence of Auntie Masaki notwithstanding. She just made Kurosaki even crazier than possible, which was a feat, what with her being a sweet and cheerful, not to mention pretty young woman.

"Why do you help him?" Connor managed to ask after he chewed down his bite, brown eyes fascinated by the byplay between the three Ishidas. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at their interaction - even if he was raised in a loving home, he was, more often than not, regarded as a kid and not included in the talks between grownups. And here his brother was, apparently knowledgeable enough to help the scary Is-heey-da man with diagnosing the patients. "Because I like it." Harry's answer made him blink. "I like to think that I made a difference, however little it is." "You forgot to mention Ryuuken made you his assistant when you were eight years old." Uryuu's affectionate grumble made Harry blush with embarrassment. "That was not how it happened!" He protested. "Yakitori?" He offered Uryuu, who smirked at him "You know me too well. And I am right." Ryuuken chuckled at the memory as he reached for the salad. "But he isn't a Healer - I mean, doctor!" Connor persisted as he looked at Ryuuken, still confused. "So how can he help anyway?"

Dark blue eyes looked at him. "You don't need to be a doctor to have the necessary knowledge." He replied. "Besides, Yato can come up with fresh perspective and ideas which I would have, because I am experienced, overlooked in my pursuit for a solution." Ryuuken used his chopstick to grab for another bite of salad, making Connor relieved to not be under the scrutiny of those intense blue eyes anymore. "But you could do so many things otherwise –" Connor addressed his brother, making Harry tilt his head slightly in confusion.

"Things like what?" Yato's question was mild, making Uryuu wince slightly at the tone. When Yato used that particular tone, the things were bound to get ugly… soon. "Well, um, play?" Connor intended to voice the reply as an answer, but instead, it came out like a meek question. "I could, yes. But I didn't want to, and medicine is a fascinating field." Connor grimaced. He rescinded his former opinion. Harry wasn't a Gryffindor material, but true blue Ravenclaw one. The redheaded Potter boy just couldn't imagine anyone would torture their brains with facts rather than just play, prank and have fun, like any normal kid would. "But that is boring," he whined, reaching for another stick, only to yelp as he was rapped on his fingers by Ryuuken's eating sticks. "You still have yakitori on your plate." The white-haired man sternly admonished him. "Don't be greedy." Connor flushed with mortification as he withdrew his hand, glaring at the man half-heartedly. "For you, it may be boring, but for me, it's not." Yato replied back dryly. "Not everyone wants to play with toy brooms like you do." Connor scowled again, this time even deeper.

His big brother sucked. Big time.

* * *

After dinner, their day – or better, night was going their normal routine, much to Connor's frustration and curiosity. The three Ishidas didn't outright ignore him, but they also didn't go out of their way to include him in their routines.

So Connor was pressed into watching the small family discuss the day's happenings, with Ryuuken and Yato commenting on one or another case, while they were playing chess and Uryuu was, much to the redheaded boy incredulousness, sewing… something, speaking up occasionally, if only to needle his father.

Finally, he had had enough. "Why don't you let him go to the Hogwarts?" He interrupted the temporary silence, fingers clenching and unclenching in a nervous gesture.

They were sitting in the living room on the comfortable leather couches – Connor thought that there has to be some kind of a Cushioning Charm interwoven in, because come on, there was no way a Muggle couch could be so comfortable - with a small club desk with a chess standing upon in, the white and blue crystal figurines occasionally clicking as they were being moved to the new position. It would have been an idyllic scene, but for Connor, it resembled a pure torture, because it forced him to be - despite the relaxing surroundings - prim and proper, because he had a feeling one Ryuuken ishida could accept nothing less. And for young boy like him, sitting properly was a pure torture.

White eyebrows quirked up. "_Let_ him?" Ryuuken asked back, as he pondered his next move. "You misunderstood, boy. Yato himself declined the letter. We didn't have anything to do with his decision." Blue eyes narrowed in contemplation as he calculated the next move…. Either he would have to sacrifice a queen or a horse. Truly, Yato's little trap was an ingenious one...

"But why?" Connor asked, looking at Yato. The green-eyed teen was bent forward, with elbows on his knees and his hands in front of his mouth, their fingers intertwined. "Your society is backward." Yato's simple answer made Connor puff up with anger. "It's not!" He barked back, scowling ferociously as he pushed his glasses higher up his nose -. They had an annoying habit of sliding down, especially when he was irritated, and nothing short of a Sticking Charm could fix the problem, but the use of that particular charm on live creatures wasn't most…advisable, so to say. Green eyes looked into incensed brown eyes calmly. "You talking about _fellytones _is all the proof I need." The youngest Ishida deadpanned. "Not to mention the delivery of the letter or the letter itself, and don't get me started on the teachers here. And there is something fundamentally wrong with taking eleven year olds from their parents, schooling them, without even providing normal education and then expect them to live in the society they had been forcibly drafted in just because they have some _'powers'_." At the last word, he raised left arm, wiggling the fingers mockingly.

"But – " Connor's brows furrowed in confused agitation. "How else would the kids know how and what to do with magic? Or do you want another witch hunt on your head?" He snapped back, as he curled his legs under him, propriety be damned. Yato tilted his head, and Connor felt a smug sense of satisfaction at his brother's apparent speechlessness.

"You really are an arrogant one, aren't you?" Uryuu spoke up, looking briefly from his sewing project. "Do you truly think you wizards are the only one hiding from normal people?"

"Uryuu!" Ryuuken rebuked his son, but Uryuu was undeterred. "If what you're saying is true, then there are vampires, dragons and God knows what else, living practically under Muggles' noses for centuries. Thus, there isn't needed a particular stretch of imagination that any other creatures would do the same- be they of wizarding kind or not. It's not always needed to live in a society of some kind to be under the radar."

"Rah-dar?" Connor parroted, blinking. "What is that?" Cobalt blue eyes looked at him, again. "And there you go again - " Uryuu deadpanned. " - showing off you lack of knowledge. How the heck your society survived until now, it will be forever mystery for me." He snarked at Connor, which seethed at him back. "If you are so very clever, then you tell me!" Connor barked back, feeling his cheeks burn with embarrassment and just knowing he was red as a lobster - not particularly flattering picture for one Boy-Who-Lived. Uryuu blinked. "Easy. Radar is an object detection system which uses radio waves to determine range, altitude, direction or speed of objects. On short, it senses the object and then tells how near or high it is and with which speed it travels."

Connor just blinked with bewilderment at the description. "Radio waves? How can radio have waves?" He asked, feeling pretty stupid at voicing such a simple question.

"Simple." Ryuuken interjected. "Imagine that you are holding a rope. If you do nothing, then the rope is still. If you swish the rope against the floor, then it will make small valleys and peaks. If you swish it harder, then these small valleys and peaks will be higher. With me so far?"

Connor nodded uncertainly. "… Yeah… I think." Ryuuken hummed. "Good. These valleys and peaks together are waves. Now, imagine that you are blind, standing in the middle of empty room, and you have to know how far away are you from the door. You have only the rope to help you. What would you do?"

Connor scrunched the nose. "Uh, moved around?" He offered, instantly feeling silly at Uryuu's condescending glare. "No, you are in the room, blind, and you can't move from where you stand." Ryuuken replied patiently. "But you can move the rope."

"Move the rope?" Connor asked dubiously. "So… whip it around?" "Exactly," Ryuuken nodded. "With whipping it around, you feel through the rope whether you hit something or not. When you hit something, it's a wall, and when – "

"When I hit nothing, then it's door!" Connor interrupted, excited. Ryuuken nodded again, offering a small smile to the redheaded teen. "Correct. The waves when you hit wall are different from waves when you hit nothing. Radar works similarly – instead of you, there's radar, and the rope are radio waves, who then tell radar if something is in the 'room' – the room in this case is the reach of the radar." Ryuuken finished the explanation as he moved the figurine.

"Seems difficult." Connor commented. "And outdated." He ended smugly, making the three Ishidas look at him with deadpan. Ryuuken shook his head. "You wizards are hopeless case." He addressed Connor as he looked at Yato. "Your move."

Connor growled. "Well, you _do _use only rope for the detection!" He defended sulkily, making Uryuu at his excuse. "Potter that was just an oversimplified explanation." Uryuu pointed out. "In reality, these radars have much wider range than a single room. You don't have a room to trash-talk about normal people if you don't understand even the simplest of their achievements."

"Agreed, Uryuu." Yato nodded. "And father…. Checkmate."

Ryuuken groaned and Uryuu laughed at his father's misfortune.

* * *

Five hours later, the bell rang, taking Ryuuken's attention away from the medicine journal he was reading.

Connor was still entrenched in watching the movie - despite of his dissing the technology, the Transformers fully engrossed him in the story.

"Shall I get it?" Yato asked, turning his head away from the movie.

"No. I will." Uryuu offered while he stood up. The movie was beginning to get boring, anyway - and he sorely wished that they didn't need to entertain the spoiled wizardling. Hell, he would have taken on that Kurosaki – but on the other hand, maybe not.

Pondering that, Uryuu came into the antechamber, and soon he was standing in front of the door, looking through the peep hole. Better be safe than sorry, after all.

"Who is there?"

Outside, there stood three people – lanky messy-haired man and red-haired woman and another scruffy sandy-haired man.

"Remus Lupin with Lily and James Potter."

* * *

**_/To Be Continued/_**


	8. Unpleasant Encounters 2nd part

CHAPTER EIGHT - UNPLEASANT ENCOUNTER 2

* * *

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own neither _Harry Potter_ or_ Bleach_ or their characters or.. you get the drift. I only own this story as it is.

_**Summary:**_ _"__Beware of the Crimson Sagittarius." _The warning was given. The words were heeded. But who – or what, was the Crimson Sagittarius?

_**Shout Out:**__ /Twitches/._ I am sorry for updating so late, my beta is apparently up to her gills in schoolwork and she would apparently be so for some time. So this version is unbeta-ed, and I will upload the beta-ed version when I will upload next chapter, so if you happen to get double notice next time, ignore the first one. _/Twitches again/._ That said, I wish you happy reading.

_**Warnings:**_ Intruders' bashing whoo-hey and some hard home truths. Nobody said that Potters can have it easy.

* * *

Remus Lupin was a coward. He would be the first one to admit as such, and then try to apologize it by him having a furry little problem - it really wasn't a paranoia if they were really out to get you and such rot, but that simply didn't excuse the fact that he was a coward any less.

He knew he should have opposed Dumbledore when the old man suggested to have little Harry deported to Dursleys, but alas, he didn't. He should have checked on his unofficial godson, and yet, he didn't - furry little problem notwithstanding, but he really looked more like a hobo than anything else, and him showing up at Dursleys in such disreputable clothes was asking to be mistaken for a beggar, or even worse, a pedophile -and then be carted off to one of those nice little cells with nice little roommate in a tow. And even if that course of action would be preferable, he couldn't' afford his monthly problem to get to the fore. So. Better be a coward than to accidentally expose the Wizarding world to the unknowing masses. (At least that was how he convinced himself not to even try to contact the boy by any and all means imaginable.)

So he told himself to wait until Harry would be old enough to go to the Hogwarts and then contact him. But never, ever in his miserable little life would he expect to find Lily bawling her eyes out and James trying to console her. He had to admit he never did expect the things go the way they had gone - he never expected any child of Lily's to outright reject their family, and yet, there he was, written blue on white, those eight damming words.

_**'By their deeds, they are dead to me.'**_

It made the old wolf's blood positively freeze with the implications. Even if he wasn't the art of Pureblooded culture, he wasn't ignorant of the rituals, contracts and the like. And what Harry had done - innocent little Harry, who looked at him with his huge green eyes and called him Wolfie – was similar to severing any and all ties between him and his blood family, declaring himself independent of them, under no rule but his own - or in this case, under the person with the name Ryuuken Ishida.

The second shock he had received after this one, came two days later.

Connor vanished. At least the boy was clever enough to cover his tracks, and James was incensed when he found out that his invisibility cloak was missing. Luckily Lily had enough of a sense to get a tracking charm on Connor's glasses, and they only had to amplify enough to follow it. It had been a surprise - _not!_ – that the track lead them to the Muggle World, and as such, Lily elected to have along Remus and James - James because he wouldn't stay at home otherwise, and they all knew what a disaster would have been to let him alone in the Muggle World - the man simply didn't have the smallest bone of discretion in his body - and Remus was the poor, unfortunate schmuchk who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Ishida." He murmured as he looked at the plate with the name on the door. Belatedly, he heard Lily choke back a sob while James awkwardly hugged her. Well, at least the mystery of where Connor had vanished off to was clear now. Inhaling a shaky breath, he lifted his arm and pressed the doorbell.

After some tense moments after giving their names, the doors finally opened and Remus stared at the teenager with dark blue eyes behind silver rimmed glasses. He was clothed in white shirt with dark blue pullover and jeans trousers - as if he had just come back from school, because Remus couldn't imagine why would any teenager want to be clothed semi-formally outside the time they had to be. However, the clothing also lend the boy mature air, making the 'wolf unconsciously straighten up as to make a better impression. "You are here for Connor, I take it?" The teenager continued, his voice just a shard shy of indifferent, and Remus got a sinking feeling in his stomach that the boy didn't like him.

"Y - Yes! Thank you for taking care of him!" Lily interrupted as she watched the boy with almost fanatical gleam in her eyes. "Harry." She breathed out as she moved forward as to hug the teen.

Those dark blue eyes narrowed in a sub-zero glare. "I am not Harry, madam. Kindly keep your hands off of me." The red-headed witch flinched at the rebuke, hurt plain in her eyes. "But – "She tried to protest, but the teen already turned his back to them in a figure of blatant dismissal. "Connor is in the living room. Now, if you would change your footwear and follow me –"

"Who are you then?" James asked, pushing his glasses up, dark eyes glinting in the dim light. The teen turned his head to glance at him. "Ishida Uryuu. Not pleased to meet you." The boy replied crisply, his tone making the Auror bristle with annoyance. Remus closed his eyes, resigning himself to spending an uncomfortable evening.

Hell in a hand basket, here we come.

* * *

Since Uryuu's announcement, Ryuuken was tenser than a bowstring and ready, willing and able to unleash a veritable hail on the fools who dared to intrude in their flat and life. Whatever Ryuuken was, he was no fool, and he knew that it wouldn't stop with the wizards retrieving their wayward progeny - oh no, this was the smallest one, and from his experience with one Kurosaki-_ahou,_ from now on, the things will just escalate.

He had abandoned the medicine journal in favor of sitting on the dark brown couch, fingertips tingling with the reiryoku, prepared to form the bow at any moment if the things turned to worst. The seemingly fragile and delicate wristband with the Quincy Cross was never so heavy and warm like it was right now. He heard the shuffling of many feet and his body involuntarily tensed.

And then, they were here.

Two men, and a woman. Dark blue eyes narrowed imperceptibly at them, but his face remained impassive. It wouldn't do to reveal all the cards so early in the game, besides –

He watched as the woman's green eyes lit up with the seer relief when she saw her son. She had red hair - red like fire, and was clothed in a comfortable, forest green, ankle length skirt with dark blue turtleneck that hugged her curves. Around her neck she wore a thin gold necklace that glinted in the light. She was slim and slender and Ryuuken could see the traces of her in Yato, although Yato was smaller and more slender, due to his previous malnutrition.

The glasses-wearing man was the next. He had brown eyes, messy hair - just like Yato had, until he decided to let his hair grow out - he was clothed in dark blue trousers and some red and gold pullover, just as ostentatiously bright like his son's shirt. In short, he looked like some kind of a dorky man who still couldn't get himself to leave the days of his college years behind. Ryuuken didn't miss his hand twitching for a wand, either.

The last man made Ryuuken raise his proverbial hackles, despite of his tired appearance. The man seemed to be older than the Potter pair, but Ryuuken frowned. The man was ill with something. Something…_ unnatural_. It was like a Hollow but not, and that made him on edge, because the two energies within the man were clashing and corroding each other, while neither gaining the dominance. It would have been a fascinating specimen if Ryuuken cared about such things, but right now, the Last Quincy cared only for preventing his little family from falling apart. Those tired brown eyes looked into his own orbs and the man seemed to shrink back, much to Ryuuken's malicious delight.

At least one of those fools knew he wasn't a pushover.

"Evening." He greeted, his voice calm and indifferent. "I will not pretend to say it is a good one in any shape or form, so don't expect me to."

Both Potters bristled at his callous greeting, but at the tired man's warning glance, they kept their mouth shut. "Thank you for keeping Connor safe, Mr. Ishida." The man bowed to him, much to Ishidas' pleasant surprise. "I apologize on intruding your home and thank you for your hospitality."

So, at least one had some manners. Interesting.

""Yeah, thanks." The bespectacled wizard mumbled sullenly, wincing as his wife elbowed him in his side.

"Mum!" Connor's excited squeal cut through the uncomfortable air. "You came!" The boy launched from his position on the couch as he barreled into the woman, as he embraced her. "Oh Connor, sweetie." The woman cooed as she embraced him back, kissing his head. "You made us worry so much!"

Connor made a face. "But Mum, I wasn't in any danger! You know I can take care of me - I am a real man, you know!" He puffed up importantly, looking like a human-sized crossbreed between a chipmunk and a peacock. Ryuuken barely muted a chuckle, but judging by Uryuu's snort, he knew that his son was just as amused.

"Maybe not, but what were you thinking, going into Muggle world without supervision! And… where is my invisibility cloak?" Connor's father interjected, making his son pale and stutter.

"Eh, um, er… Mr. Is-Heey-Da confiscated it." He admitted sheepishly.

"What!?" Connor's father spluttered. "But - !"

"The boy was dumb enough to use it and I still caught him." Ryuuken commented, silently enjoying the man's flabbergasted expression which was rapidly turning angry. "He had been following me for almost entire day, until I apprehended him. For that matter, he shouldn't have been in our world, and without supervision at that."

The man bristled. "You – "he growled, his fist clenching helplessly, making the drab-clothed man place a hand on his shoulder. "Are you implying we are bad parents?"

"Wouldn't be a far-off shot in the dark." Uryuu sniped back, making the man glare at him, while the redheaded woman eyed him reproachfully.

The man opened his mouth to reply with a scathing retort, only to yelp like a wounded dog, when the redhead not so subtly kicked him into the shin. He shrank under her glare, and after a final cuddle, the woman released Connor from her hug, the boy still cuddling at her side, his dark eyes wide with fascinated thrill at witnessing the squabble between his parents and those strangers that claimed to be Harry's new family.

"I am sorry for out intrusion," The woman began, her lips curling into faintly embarrassed smile. "I am Lily Potter, wife of this doofus – "she tilted her chin at the messy-haired man who was grumbling under his breath. " - and Connor's mother. I can't thank you enough for taking care of him."

Ryuuken tilted his head slightly. At least the wo - no, Lilly Potter - had enough common sense as not to unduly agitate him. He knew Uryuu's fingers were just itching to perforate the trio with multitude of arrows - he felt the same, but well, violence wouldn't pay right now. "Could you please return the cloak back to us? It's a family heirloom." Green eyes widened slightly into a pleading expression Ryuuken had no doubt would sway many - but it had nothing on Yato's, on the rare exceptions when he actually deigned to use it (Yoruichi was downright _lethal _in schooling her young protégé in this little tidbit of womanly arts, much to Ryuuken's mortification, and Kurosaki-_ahou_'s amusement - but that held only until the Kurosaki-_ahou_ found himself under those self-same begging eyes. Ryuuken had the last laugh, then.).

"I don't know. If I return it to you, nothing would be accomplished, as that son of yours would undoubtedly 'borrow' it and come bother us again." Ryuuken replied, disregarding an offended _"Hey!"_ from both son and the father as he looked into Lily's green eyes.

Lily sighed. "There's that, too. But would it be so bad? "She softly questioned the Ishida patriarch. "I know that we made a mistake with leaving Harry with Dur - _those _people – " She choked the last two words out- "-but surely, Connor is innocent of our mistakes. Could you at least allow him to get to know his brother?"

Ryuuken nearly agreed, but he managed to catch himself from nodding an assent in the last possible fraction of moment. By Rei-ou, this woman was _dangerous!_ Dark eyes widened imperceptibly with a small amount of horrified admiration. He didn't know how she did it, but she very nearly charmed him into agreeing to get their dirty hands on Yato, even if only by proxy.

And that was _unacceptable._

Slender white eyebrows furrowed in a tiny scowl. "Potter-_san_, do you take me for a fool?" He asked, his voice sharp and low, making the scruffy man flinch at the tone it was spoken out in, while the messy-haired man - Ryuuken suspected him to be James Potter, gaped at him in sort of awe, while Lily eyed him with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Um, no, I – " Lily tried to deny, but she was interrupted by the man shifting forward.

"Obviously you do, as you are asking for far more concessions you are entitled to. Us accepting and taking care of Connor doesn't, in any way, shape or form, amount to the verbal, silent or any other kind of agreement for you to barge in to play happy little family." Ryuuken's voice was sharp, like the blade of _Seele Schneider._ Uryuu suppressed a shudder. He hadn't seen his father angry often, but those three wizards were stupidly making Ryuuken almost visibly exerting his temper as not to outright blast them into oblivion. Even if Uryuu knew that Ryuuken wished the Quincies wouldn't have the ability to outright kill the souls - as in, irreversibly kill, unlike the Shinigami, who only sent them on the other side, - he couldn't help but have a feeling the Last Quincy would be feeling very trigger-happy if given a chance and not having even an iota of regret in the case if he did kill the idiotic trio.

* * *

Lily flinched under the glare of those unusual blue eyes. It wasn't often that people denied her something, especially now with her being the mother of the Boy-Who-Lived, so it hammered the hurt of rejection into her heart twice as hard. But at the same time, her infamous temper was beginning to rear up its head.

'_How dare he.' _She was perfectly reasonable, even going so low as to propose the solution, not even including her and James into this little building of family ties, and there he goes, just plain out refusing it!

"We are still his parents!" She bit out, green eyes glaring into not amused cobalt blue ones.

"Ex-parents. If anything, you two could be considered donors of genetic material, and nothing more." Ryuuken snapped back. "Parenting means being there for the child, teaching them, letting them make or break his own decisions. Being here, for both good and bad. If we compare your own pitiful show, you come out lacking on all fronts."

"Even so, Mr. Ishida, Lily is right." The scruffy man spoke out, his voice hoarse and quiet. He sent a warning glare to Lily. "My name is Lupin Remus and I am honorary godfather of one Harry James Potter, otherwise known as Ishida Hayato."

"Why are you here now?" Ryuuken's question was stark in its simplicity but laden with underlying meanings_. 'Why not sooner? What kind of Godfather are you? I sure as hell won't let you near Yato.'_

The man refused to flinch, but he couldn't suppress a small wince. "I really can't excuse my absence." He began, his eyes earnest. "But I have a condition - I am a werewolf, and such, I was unable to take care of Harry. I, of course, could have visited Harry, when he was at Dursleys, but I trusted that he was safe, and intended to contact him when he went to Hogwarts."

Ryuuken blinked. So _that_ was the feeling he sensed from the man. Well, if nothing else, this was interesting.

"And that turned out to be _such _a brilliant plan." Uryuu's sarcastic murmur made the pair bristle, but Lupin shrugged with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Yeah, no. So when I got news that Connor had done his little trip to the Muggle side, I took my chances."

"Fat chance, that is." Uryuu snapped back. The elder of Ishida siblings got in front of the 'wolf, making a man take a hesitant step back, despite of the man being taller and older than him. It would have been a comical sight – a teen, almost two heads smaller, cornering the man back with nothing else than a voice, full of scorn and blazing cobalt blue eyes. "You had ten years of time to contact him, your excuses of being furry idiot notwithstanding. And now, when he refused to come to that stupid piggy school of yours, you dare to come here and whine about the unfairness of it all."

"You don't understand anything!" Finally, James exploded. "If he doesn't get an education, he could be a danger to people – !"

"He will get education, but not from you or by enrolling into your school. " Ryuuken interrupted, his voice filled with distaste. "When the need appears, he will have instructors that won't hamper him with unwanted family ties or unreasonable obligations to the backward society you are trying to stuff him into."

"But – " Lily tried once more.

"But nothing." A third voice entered conversation, making the visitors jerk their heads to the source.

And there he was, Lily noted dazedly. Harry, her darling son. The years were good to him - he was a little bit taller than Connor, and clad in black baggy trousers and deep gray shawl knit jumper with a light gray ribbed section at the neck with a fold down collar. His hair was a shoulder-length, half-tamed mess, and he had her eyes.

Truly, he was perfect blend of her and James.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide as she released Connor from her hold and attempted to rush forward and embrace her lost son, but she was stopped by Harry lifting his hand.

"Potter-san." His voice was coolly polite, making something within her clench at the distant greeting, while he should have called her 'Mother' or even 'Mum'.

"Call me Mum, darling." She inisisted, aiming at him her most caring smile. "After all, we're family." She cursorily glanced at the white-haired man who was now outright glaring at her, and she couldn't help but smile a small smug smile at him.

"You're no family of mine." Her son spoke out, making her flinch at the flat tone of his voice. "You're no Mother of mine. You could've done things differently, could've given me to someone else than your bitch of a sister to raise and take care of. You had to know what kind of woman she was, and you still went ahead and dropped me at her doorstep."

"But it was for your safety!" Lily choked out, her eyes wide and shiny with suppressed tears.

"What safety?" Her eldest son scoffed at her. "Living in a cupboard since the arrival? Being fed absolute minimum and being starved when I had done something they perceived as bad? Having to do the chores, and being locked into cupboard if I was getting better grades than their Duddykins in school? Being outright abused?" He sneered, those unusual green eyes narrowing. "If that was what you intended me to subject to, then you have a fine understanding of safety, ma'am."

"What do you mean?" James' strangled voice moved Yato's attention on his person. "Dumbledore said nothing about you being abused!"

"Of course not, he probably didn't even deign to visit Dursleys," Yato scoffed, glaring at his ex-father scornfully.

"No! What I mean, is that he monitored you - that old Ms Figg – "

"Ah, the crazy cat-lady." Yato pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing with exasperation at the wizards' stupidity. "And she probably heard that I was ungrateful child, a total hoodlum and so on and so forth." He murmured sarcastically. "Being magic-gifted among normal folks isn't the walk in the park you are imaging it to be."

"Ms Figg was taken as an eccentric lady Dursleys avoided to associate with, except for few times she had to babysit me when the Dursleys had gone off to do their things. She was old, cat-crazy and not in the right head to even see I was abused. Hell, once I was dropped at her black and blue from recent 'punishment' for a vase Dudley had broken, and she didn't do a whit more than offer me a cup of tea and some cookies that seemed to be made from rock."

"Oh, Merlin…" Lily's gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Five years ago, the Dursleys were put on a trial, with the adults receiving a life sentence for abuse of a minor, and Dudley was carted off to Vernon's sister Marge. I agreed to be adopted by my father - he was the one who had taken me in and got a notice to the social services that Dursleys were not the respectful family they boasted themselves to be."

Yato paused, looking over the horrified wizards. Lily was crying quietly and looked as if she wanted to hug him and never let him go, and both of the adult males were torn between being sick to their bones and grateful that he was alright now, while Connor looked from one to another, both in confusion and uneasiness.

"You never knew, didn't you?" He spoke out, his voice quiet and wrought with exhaustion. "And you wonder why I am against going with you."

"Son, we didn't – "James tried to say, only to be interrupted by Ryuuken. "Knew? Of course not, you were only too happy to have that Boy-Who-Lived of yours." Ryuuken scoffed. "If Yato would have agreed to go with you, would you make him go back to Dursleys, for his own safety? Or would you make him sleep in a cupboard, because he was to be unseen and unheard of except in rare occurrences you wanted to play happy little reunited family?" The Last Quincy stood up, glaring at the messy-haired man who was floundering for an answer.

"They wouldn't!" Remus' outburst made Ryuuken glare at him, but the werewolf ignored him, looking at Yato instead. "I know Lily and James as good people - they wouldn't have given you up if it wasn't really important, and believe me, the mess after You-Know-Who's demise was not something to scoff at. There were still Death Eaters at large, and Potters as a family who had caused You-Know-Who's death were high on their revenge list. Both of you – Connor more so than you, were in danger of assassinations, and Lily and James couldn't take care of both of you at once. So the only way was to hide you away from the limelight and then come back from you when everything would have calmed down."

"Of course - and who was the dumb idiot who revealed the terrorist's demise to the masses was?" Ryuuken snapped, now absolutely livid at the bullshit the werewolf was spouting out.

"Dumbledore."

The pressure which was slowly increasing in the room, spiked.

"Of course, he just _HAD_ to reveal that little fact didn't he?" Uryuu practically growled out. "Don't you wizards have even a lick of common sense? Dumbledore just as well as painted a huge bulls eye on your back with his little announcement, and you_ still_ trust the man?"

"…" The wizards eyed each other with unsure expressions on their faces.

"Dumbledore is a great man – "

" – But he isn't infallible." Ryuuken interrupted Lupin. "I trust him less than I could throw him – " - a memory of Ishida Souken flashed through his mind in an instant, the man was just as blindly trusting, and he had been killed because of it – "and I won't gamble my son's safety on an off-chance that he had changed sometimes in the last ten years."

"But surely – "

"_NO." _ Yato had enough. "I won't go and you can't make me. I already have a family – my father is Ishida Ryuuken, and my brother is Ishida Uryuu. I am Ishida Hayato. I don't need a father and a mother that abandoned me to take care of their 'Boy-Who-Lived' –proclaimed son. I don't need a godfather that is too much of a wimp to find a way to contact me, despite being a werewolf of all things. You're wasting my time and you already wasted your chances. Get out, and don't bother us anymore."

"That isn't how you speak to your father, boy!" James exploded, as he pulled out his wand, only to be almost suffocated by the pressure emitted from the three Ishidas.

"You are not his father._ I am_." Ryuuken practically snarled in James' face, making him blanch at seeing the murderous intent in those cobalt eyes. Elegant hand grabbed front of his pullover, and for a moment, James though the white-haired man would slug him one.

A moment passed when Ryuuken was holding the fear-petrified wizard, before releasing him, leaving him oddly subdued.

"But you are my big brother!" Connor cried out, his eyes big and scared. He had been listening to the Ishidas and his parents duke-out and he didn't like what he heard.

"I'm not. I am Ishida Hayato. I am not a Potter." Dark green eyes, so unlike Lily's looked into his own watering ones. "Maybe, once I was." A sad, bitter smile. "But not anymore."

Connor hung his head, his shoulder shaking. "It isn't fair. I didn't know about you, and when I finally found you, you want nothing to do with me." His voice whispered out as he clenched his fists. Suddenly, he jerked his head up. "Fine! Be a bastard! I never needed you, anyway!" He screamed, before roughly pushing past his the stunned men and ran into antechamber.

"Connor!" James called after his son. "Dammit, not again," He cursed, as he took after him. Connor was a hothead - true Gryffindor, but he was also reckless, and with him being in Muggle world, they had been lucky Ryuuken was kind enough to babysit him.

Now, there were only Lily and Lupin. Ryuuken eyed the duo blandly. Lily looked like she wanted to run after Connor, and only sheer force of will was holding her in the room, and the 'wolf was fidgeting on his place, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "That wasn't nice." Lupin finally managed to get out.

"But it was true." The pressure lessened, and Yato hung his head. "I have my own family. He should forget about me – it's for the best."

"It's not." Lily whispered. "He looked forward to having you with him – we didn't tell him about you, but he found out anyway. And being an only child… it's a very lonely feeling." She looked at Hayato, her eyes wet with tears. "I know we had done wrong to you, but Connor is innocent. Please… give him a chance."

Looking at Hayato's closed-off face, her heart sank.

"Goodbye." She managed to choke out as she turned around and hurried back to the antechamber.

* * *

Remus Lupin was a werewolf, and he always knew his position wasn't the best one… but this showdown was heartbreaking. He couldn't fault Ishidas for thinking that they were better off left alone, and he had heard many things he didn't like - Dumbledore's revelation of You-Know-Who's demise was indeed a foolish move, doubly so as it forced Potters in a limelight and worse, they had to let their eldest child go.

But only now, he knew just how badly had the old man messed up. Harry - no, Hayato now, had been adopted for five, now almost six years, and they didn't know - _nobody _knew, and wasn't that an embarrassing revelation, that the wizard kind was so very incompetent as not to detect the change in Hayato's status until Hayato had refused attendance at Hogwarts.

Remus himself knew he could have done better. He could have disobeyed the orders, disregarded the fact that he could have accidentally revealed the wizarding world to Muggles - hey, he had managed to bled in pretty well in the past, and his appearance was nothing he couldn't fix – Lily always nagged him to wear better clothes and she even offered to buy them for him - and maybe, just maybe, he could have prevented the entire farce from occurring. Because of his inactivity, his pack as now suffering, and his pack mates had lost a cub. His inner wolf whined in a distress, but he ruthlessly clamped down on it.

Instead, his cub wasn't his cub anymore - the cub was belonging to a different pack and he had a feeling one James Charlus Potter would be drunk as a skunk tonight. And all of that because they blindly trusted one Albus Dumbledore.

His inner wolf snarled at the name. True, the man was strong - an Alpha in his own right, but his decisions hurt Remus pack, and he itched to take a pound of meat off of Dumbledore's hindquarters as to teach him a lesson. Remus still trusted the old codger, but his wolf side swore to take everything the old beard would say in the future, with a huge grain of salt.

"I understand." The words slid off Remus' tongue, bitter like ashes. "I don't like it, but I understand." Three pairs of eyes watched the werewolf fidget a bit before both Ryuuken and Ishida were pinned under the man's glare.

"I may not be his godfather anymore, but if you ever hurt him, so Merlin help me…" The man growled out, his gentle eyes flashing with amber sheen - Ryuuken looked at the change, amused, and a bit fascinated – "There won't be a place on earth for you to hide."

Ryuuken chuckled. "Indeed."

Yato rolled his eyes. "They won't." He huffed out, put out, only to squawk as Uryuu ruffled his hair fondly.

Remus smiled as he watched Uryuu teasing his little brother, and Hayato scowling at Uryuu half-heartedly.

Nodding to Ryuuken, he quietly slipped out of the room and their lives.

All would be well.

* * *

_**/To Be Continued/**_


End file.
